ANGEL: A Maximum Ride novel
by Isabel Hunter
Summary: This is my version of the 7th Maximum Ride book, ANGEL. I wrote this before ANGEL was released, so keep in mind I didn't know the plan for the real book. This includes the flock, and you may not understand all of it if you haven't read at least up to FANG
1. Chapter 1

1

When you lose someone you love, you lose part of yourself, too. Fang is gone, and so is part of me. Dylan just makes it worse, telling me that Fang didn't deserve me. I'm no longer Max the Invincible. I'm Max the Weak. I can't protect the flock. I can't even protect myself.

I'm sitting in the living room, early in the morning when I hear someone coming down the stairs. Max the Invincible would immediately become alert and focused. Max the Weak just sat there and turned her head. I saw my mom walk in and come over, sitting next to me and holding my hand.

"What's bothering you, sweetie?" she asked sweetly, as if she didn't know.

I looked at her and my bottom lip quivered.

"Nothing," I replied stupidly. Did I mention that Max the Weak can't even lie.

"Then why do you look half dead?" she asked skeptically.

"Because I am. The Fang side of me died," I choked, crying.

"Sweetie, the flock needs you. You can't stay like this."

"I need him. I have to get rid of the Fang side of me," I said, a little more confidence in my voice. I ran out the front door. I jumped off the deck and snapped my wings out.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Thank you, Pistachio Mustachio, for pointing out my mix-up between loose and lose. That's embarrassing! Although I DID write this chapter in fifth grade late at night...<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

2

I flew. I don't know where I was going. I was just letting the wind take me. the whole time I thought of Fang. His crooked smile that always makes the world a little brighter. All of the good times we had together. All the kisses, the flights, all the times that it was just the two of us. Then horrifying images of Fang being dead popped into my mind. the feeling of his cold, lifeless hand in mine. I shook and almost fell.


	3. Chapter 3

3

"I can't tell you how much I miss him," I choked.

About fifty feet until the ground, someone caught me. I wanted with all my heart to look up and see the black wings I'd gotten to love so much. But instead, the wings I saw were pure blonde. Dylan.

"Put me down!" I shrieked. Dylan just kept flying. He carried me all the way to the house. When we landed, I struggled weakly but Dylan held my hands behind my back. He brought me inside, and to my surprise, I saw the entire flock gathered in the living room, looking nervous. Everyone except Fang.

Iggy and Gazzy were sitting on the couch, talking next to my mom. Angel and Nudge were sitting on the floor together. When I came in, they all stopped talking and looked at me. Now I know what it feels like to be a teenager brought home by a policeman.

Once we were inside, Dylan let go of me and I pushed away from him. My mom got up and walked over to me, hugging me tight.

"Oh, honey," she said, sounding close to tears.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"You jumped," Iggy said, anger in his voice.

"How did you-," I started, but Dylan cut me off.

"I saw you," he said coldly.

"Oh," I replied.

"Why would you do that, Max," Nudge said, her bottom lip quivering.

"It's not what you think!" and yes, that did sound as lame as you think.

Iggy turned to me. "We all miss Fang," I winced at the name. "But you don't see us trying to kill ourselves!"

"Guys!" I yelled, close to tears. "I didn't do that on purpose! I just wasn't paying attention! You have to believe me!" I sunk to the floor and started crying.

"Fine," Iggy said, his voice like sharp ice. "If you didn't jump, then what happened?"

"I was going to fly, but I was just caught up in my thoughts and forgot to open my wings!" I said.

"Yeah?" Iggy yelled. "And there also wasn't a little thought in you head about Fang!"

"Don't you believe me? Gazzy?" He looked at me with indecision.

"Angel?" Her eyes were full of fear and sadness.

"Iggy?"

"You jumped," he said which made it hurt even more.

"Nudge?"

"I don't know Max," she said, refusing to look at me.

"Mom?" I said with all the longing I had.

"Sweetie-,"

"You don't believe me," I whispered. "Guys, I've almost died saving every one of you,"

"Honey," my mom said. "We'll forgive you. We know that you were attached to him more than any of us. You loved him."

"And he loved Max," Angel said softly. "He loved Max more than anything. Leaving was truly the hardest thing he ever did. He only thought it would keep you safe."


	4. Chapter 4

4

Fang couldn't believe what he had just seen. He had been living under his favorite cliff for two weeks, since he left. Now he had just witnessed Max, his love, jump off that very special cliff and into Dylan's arms. It truly broke his heart. He swore he heart Max's sweet laughter when Dylan caught her.

Fang sat down at the trunk of a tree and put his head down. He thought of Max. Their first kiss, to their last. He closed his eyes and a single tear rolled down his heartbroken face.


	5. Chapter 5

5

That night didn't go well for me. Not even my own mom believed me. I ran up to my room without saying a word, shutting the door behind me.

On top of that, I had nightmares of Fang telling me he didn't love me anymore. At one point, I had a really vivid nightmare of him throwing himself off the cliff, wings in. On purpose. I stayed there all morning the next day. At around ten o'clock, my mom came in and found me sitting curled up on the wooden white box backed up to my windowsill, looking out. She came over to me.

"I know you love him," she said, rubbing her hand on my back, just like Fang would. "And I can't say that I've been through this before. I'm not going to ask you find someone else. What I want to ask you is to be strong for the flock. If he should come back, then I say follow your heart. But you need to lead with your head."

"I'll try, mom," I said, and gave her an artificial smile.

"Thanks, sweetheart," and she walked out of the room. I got dressed and went downstairs.


	6. Chapter 6

6

Fang flew up to the cliff and walked into the cave. He picked up a rock and yelled in frustration, throwing the rock. His voice echoed through the cave and faded. He sat down on he cold cave floor and thought of Max. He loved Max. And when he had left, she had loved him. She had loved him more than she hated Dylan. When he left, he had never considered the possibility of her just forgetting about him. He figured that she would at least miss him a little.

Fang curled up and broke out into dry sobs, crying himself to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

7

This morning I woke up early, at around four-thirty. I got dressed and snuck downstairs. Of course, no one else was up. I needed to clear my head, so I went outside and flew to the cliff. When the cliff came into view, I saw a little black dot on top. Curious, I switched into hyper drive. As I got closer, the little black dot started to run towards the edge. That's when I realized who that little black dot was. Fang.

Fang POV

He ran. Fang had no intentions to use his wings. He had seen Max with Dylan. She had broken his heart. All he had to do was run the last five feet and let gravity do the rest. As Fang's foot left the cliff, he was hit square in the chest and knocked off his feet, sliding twenty feet back. His first thought was that it was an eraser or a flyboy, but when he opened his eyes, he couldn't believe his what he saw. Max was lying on top of him. At first, she just looked as shocked as he felt. Then Fang saw a flicker of anger on her face, followed by her fist hurtling towards him. All he remembered was a sharp pain just left of his nose, and then he blacked out.

Max's POV

After knocking Fang out, I decided to try to carry him back to the house. I picked him up by the waist and took a very shaky takeoff. It was challenging, but I finally got him home at around seven o'clock. When I came home, the whole flock plus my mom where in a circle, talking frantically.

"...Could she be?"

"...Checked the whole house!"

When I walked in with an unconscious Fang on slung over my shoulders, all heads turned to me. I was already breathing heavily from my exhausting flight. I was taking short, labored breaths as I dropped to my knees and put my head down, unable to stand. Then, the hero that I am, I blacked out.


	8. Chapter 8

8

I woke up in my bedroom with Nudge sitting on the end of my bed. She saw me eyes flutter open.

"Hi, Max!" she said jumping up and down. "Guys! Max is up!"

Everyone came running into my room.

"How are you feeling?" my mom asked. Everyone was asking me all sorts of questions about yesterday (I found out that I'd slept through the rest of the day after I blacked out.

"Guys, guys! I'm fine. Just a bit sore, that's all," I said. "Hey- Where's Fang?" Their loving smiles instantly faded. "He didn't...leave again? Did he?"

"No, Max," Nudge said; her smile fake, but there. "He's in his bedroom. But... he's a little upset. Uh, with you."

Great. I finally found him and now he hates me. Without a word, I got up and walked to Fang's room. It takes a lot to make Fang cry, but when I walked in, he looked on the verge of tears. I ran up to him and tried to wrap my arms around him, but to my sad surprise, he pushed me away.

"No," I choked. "No. Fang, don't- don't do this to me!" I said crying now. "Please."

"Why are you crying?" his every word like a stab in the heart. "Just go back to your Mr. Perfect boyfriend."

"Fang!" I yelled. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw you with Dylan, Max," he said painfully. "You jumped off the cliff and into his arms! I heard you laugh."

"What!" I shrieked. "No! Fang, I was going to do a takeoff and I got distracted and forgot to open my wings. Dylan had followed me and caught me! I didn't laugh. I yelled at him to put me down!"

"I'm sorry, Max," he whispered. "I just can't believe that."


	9. Chapter 9

9

I ran out of Fang's room as fast as I could. I'd lost him. My Fang was gone. I ran out the front door and just kept going. I didn't fly. I felt like I didn't have the strength. There was a small forest outside my house. I ran into it and kept going. I should have heard the rustling in the trees. I should have turned back. Instead I sat down at the base of a tree. That's when I heard it. The unmistakable, dreadful sound of helicopter blades. I did a weak three-sixty spin. Erasers were coming from everywhere. The oldest-looking one moved lightning-fast and slammed me against a tree.

Dylan's POV

While Fang was still in his room and Max had stormed out, the rest of the flock was sitting in the living room, quiet. Dylan was trying to make sense of what just happened when he shot straight up and screamed a single word in alarm.

"MAX!" and with that he ran out the door.

Iggy's POV

Everyone was shocked and confused about what just happened. Iggy broke the silence by saying, "And then there where five."

Dylan's POV

Dylan practically threw himself off the deck and into the air. He flew as fast as he could to the forest. When he got to a clearing he saw a horrific sight. Max was being pressed to a tree about a foot in the air, held by her neck. The eraser holding Max was covered with scars. He caught sight of Dylan and jabbed Max in the stomach. She cried out in pain.

"Well, well, well," the eraser said in a drawling voice. "What do we have here?"

All the other erasers chuckled.

"Dylan, run!" Max yelled, clutching her stomach. He could hear the pain in her voice. "Just go! I'll be okay!"

Dylan caught eye contact with Max. He saw the sincerity behind her words, but also saw the hopelessness confirming her lie.

"Go! He doesn't believe me anyway," she said, whispering the last heartbroken sentence as the erasers closed in. Dylan ran. Max had just been taken away by erasers. He had to tell the others.


	10. Chapter 10

10

I watched Dylan run away as they tied up my hands, feet and gagged me. If Fang didn't believe me and he almost cried about it, I didn't think he would ever believe me. So I didn't put up a fight. I let the erasers take me to hell.

Dylan's POV

Dylan ran as fast as he could back to the house.

The moment he came in the house, he yelled, "Max is gone!"

That sparked everyone's attention, even Fang. He silently walked into the living room and settled in the back, becoming invisible

"What!" yelled Dr. Martinez. "Exactly what happened!" Dylan told everyone what happened as they all listened in silence.

"As they were taking her away, I heard her say 'He doesn't believe me, anyway.'" he finished. "What did she mean by that?" Everyone was looking at each other. Suddenly, Fang appeared in front of Dylan and spoke.


	11. Chapter 11

11

The erasers came and brought me out of my cage for more torture. They brought me into a dark room and strapped me to a cold metal table, face down. They took a knife and cut off the piece of my shirt in between my wings, cutting me as well. I winced and the erasers chuckled. I heard a whitecoat walk in.

"Well, well, Maximum," he said, in an arrogant voice. "You have been awfully quiet lately. Given up, I presume."

"Just do what you want with me. Get this over with."

"Okay," he said. "We are going to test your pain tolerance. Just tell us if it hurts." the whitecoat got something from behind me and pressed it between my wings. I shrieked in pain. It was a burning hot metal rod.

"Okay, lets try the other temperatures," he said and chuckled. Tears formed in my eyes.

Fang's POV

Fang was flying alone to the center of all his nightmares. The School. Because he hadn't believed Max, she couldn't, or wouldn't, fight the erasers. He had let this happen. Fang knew that Max would never like Dylan. What was he thinking! He had pushed his true love away and now, whitecoats were doing God-knows-what to her. He flew faster. He needed to save Max.


	12. Chapter 12

12

Fang was desperate to get to the school and get Max. So desperate that he was flying in a thunderstorm. He was drenched. He decided to find a cave and sleep for the night. After landing and shaking his hair out, Fang sat down and fell asleep, dreaming of Max.

Max's POV

"No more!" I shrieked. "Please! No more needles." I'd had blood drawn twice already and been given over twenty different painful injections. And that was just today.

"Oh, it's just a few more. Now stay still," he said, plunging another needle into my arm. I screamed in pain.

Fang's POV

Fang was woken up by footsteps in the cave. Before he could turn around, he was stuffed in to a sack. He struggled viciously, but he was kicked. He was taken away. All part of the plan.


	13. Chapter 13

13

When the erasers threw me back into the cage, I started to cry.

"Its okay."

When I heard that voice, I jumped, slamming my head against the metal bars. "F-Fang?" I choked out.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm sorry about before. I should have believed you. I should have known that you would never like Dylan. And there is one other thing I need to tell you."

"What?" I whispered.

"I love you, Maximum Ride."

I just stared at Fang in shock.

He continued. "I truly want to be with you. I never want to be without you. You are my one and only true love. You are my soul mate. And no matter how many times the idiot in me pushes you away, I need you to promise me that you will always come back."

I was shock for many reasons:

1) Fang had let out that much emotion in one speech

2) Fang had made that long of a speech.

3) Fang still loved me (although I was more relieved than shocked about that.)

"I love you, too, Fang. I never want to be without you and I'll never stop loving you. And I promise that I'll never run away again."

Fang gave me one of his half smiles that always makes the world a little brighter. "Good," he said. "Now lets get out of here. Watch this."

Fang closed his eyes and put on a calming face. He could have been sleeping except for his tensed jaw. I could here Fang's steady, concentrated breathing. Slowly, I watched the metal cage bars bend.

"Wow," I said in awe. "That's amazing."

"Yeah," Fang said, stepping out of his cage and shaking his wings out. "We can admire it later. First we need to get out!"

He stepped over to my cage and did the same thing. Once we were both out, we started running through the halls. We could have gotten out smoothly but no, this is my life. We turned a corner and almost collided with about two dozen erasers. Fang immediately stepped in front of me.

"Go!" he yelled, not taking his eyes off the erasers.

"No, Fang! I'm not going to leave! We fight together!" He glanced at me but didn't argue. We kicked and punched our way through the erasers. When I took out the last one, Fang gave me one of his crooked smiles. Then we started running. We ran into another band of erasers and it went the same way. We finally found an open window and I flew through it with Fang trailing close behind me. We kept flying for about two hours and finally found a cave for the night.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," Fang said.

"It's okay, Fang," I said. I started to walk over and sit next to him when a searing pain shot through my right arm. I fell to the floor and screamed out loud. As fast as it came, it left. Fang rushed over and I was trying to calm my rapid breathing.

"What's wrong?" he said in alarm.

"Nothing anymore," I replied. "It's just after math from testing."

I leaned over and started crying into Fang's shoulder. He held me and rubbed my back gently, just the way I like it.


	14. Chapter 14

15

When my arm felt a little better, we started flying again. It took about four hours to reach the house. When it came into view, Fang and I immediately sped up a bit. When we arrived, Gazzy was the one to open the door. He looked at us in shock.

"Guys!" he said excitedly. "Their back!" As soon as Gazzy said that, we were pulled in and surrounded by happy bird kids, my mom, and even my half-sister, Ella.

"Oh, Max!" Ella cried. "As soon as I heard what happen I came over. I'm so sorry!"

"Then thank Fang. He saved me." Ella squeezed Fang in a hug. I could easily tell that he didn't like it, but he didn't pull away.

"Okay, guys. I think Max gets that you miss her. Now lets give her some time just to go in her room," my mom said. Man, I love her. She turned to me and smiled. "I'll be in a bit with something to eat."

I walked to my room and lay down on the bed. Quick recap:

1) I'd been kidnapped and brought back to the school. They were still after me.

2) Fang now believes me.

3) Everyone is still in one piece.

Just then my mom came in with a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and an English muffin. The serving was about enough for three people. I wolfed it down in about fifteen minutes. Once I was done with my meal, I put the plates down beside my bed and stared up the ceiling and relaxed. My thoughts were interrupted by a shaggy head poking into my room. Fang.

"Hey," he said. "I thought you might want some company."

He slid into the room and sat down on the bed right next to me. Fang reached over to take my arm, but as soon as his hand touched me, I shrieked in pain. The pain was back but it was even worse now. It shot up my arm and got to my shoulder.

My mom came running in, being trailed by the rest of the flock, led by Dylan.

"What happened?" my mom yelled. "Did he hurt you?" She looked accusingly at Fang.

"What? No!" I said. "Fang would never do anything to hurt me."

"Well then what happened!" she yelled.

"We were just... sitting here, and my arm started hurting," I explained. "When Fang touched me," I said more quietly.

"Well are you okay right now?"

"Yeah, mom, I'm fine. It's gone."

"Well you be careful," she said. She gave Fang a mean glare and left the room. Then Fang turned to me and gave me a killer look, his kind and loving, and walked out.

Fang's POV

Fang walked out of Max's room and went to his own room. What was wrong with Max's arm! All he knew was that it had something to do with her torture at the School. He needed to know.

Max's POV

I walked out of my room and went to the living room where I found the rest of the flock watching T.V. I sat down and numbed my mind with the show. It was just what I needed. After all that I've been through; the School, the torture, Fang. I needed to get my mind off my life for a few hours. And with my life, no one can say I didn't need it or deserve it. I was sitting in a safe living room with my flock, my mom, and my half sister. It was the best time I'd had in years. Which, if you think about it, is pretty sad. My life couldn't get better.

That's when reality dawned on me. Where's Fang? I hadn't seen him since he walked out of my room. Trying hard to act casual, I got up wand walked to Fang's room. What I saw made my heart stop and my blood run cold.

There, on the bed, was a single folded piece of paper with one word written in Fang's scraggly handwriting.

_Max_.


	15. Chapter 15

15

I almost collapsed on the spot. Another note. Another freaking note. I was so sick of this. Close to tears, I grasped the note.

_Dear Max,_

_Don't freak out, Max. I'm not leaving you forever this time. I've gone to try to find answers. I'm going to try to find out how to fix your arm. I need to ask you not to charge off just yet. The truth is, I can't bear to see you in pain. Please stay put in the house for two weeks. If I'm not back by then, come after me. I don't plan for this to be longer than that, so it probably means something's happened._

_I love you, Maximum._

_Love,_

_Fang_

I reread it again, just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. I relaxed a little. Fang would come back. No need to panic just yet.

"I've gone to find answers." What did that mean? I thought of all the possible places he could have gone. Then it dawned on me.

"No," I said. "No, **NO**!" I yelled and let out a terrifying scream. Everyone came running. Dylan was first to speak.

"Max, what happened? What's wrong?"

"He's... he's," I stuttered. Everyone finally saw the note.

"Max," Nudge said. "I'm sorry."

"No!" I shrieked. "He's not gone! He said he went to find out how to fix my arm."

They all stared at me blankly, not understanding what I meant.

"Guys, the only place that has the answers- and Fang knows this- is... is the School."


	16. Chapter 16

16

"We're talking about the School, guys," I said, my voice cracking. "We all know what could happen. This isn't because I love him. I have to go save him."

"Max," said Dylan, his voice filled with fake sympathy. "I don't think you should go after him. He did leave you."

"SHUT UP!" I screamed, anger dripping. "I don't care that you don't like him! He's a member of this family and you better damn respect that!" I punched Dylan in the stomach and roundhouse kicked him in the face, knocking him out.

"Don't you ever talk about Fang like that," I said. Without another word, I jumped out the window and took to the sky.


	17. Chapter 17

17

Fang's POV

After hours of flying, I finally reached the School. I circled it once and then landed on the roof. Below me, there were two guards in front of the main entrance. This part was going to be easy. I jumped down with my wings open, kicking the guards in the head and knocking them out. I took the access card from one of the guard's necks and ran in. I ran through a series of long, empty corridors when I finally found a room with a whitecoat in it. Behind him, there was an upright metal table with restraining straps. He was standing behind a long table covered with beakers and test tubes. I disappeared and walked slowly towards him. I tackled him and pinned him to the ground.

"Where's the cure?" I said dangerously.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" the whitecoat stuttered.

"The cure for Max's arm. Where is it?"

"It's on the table!" I got off of him and yanked him up by the collar.

"Which one?" I said, shaking him. He pointed to a filled needle and I picked it up carefully.

"Be careful! We haven't tested it yet! It could be completely unstable!"

"Yes or no. Is this Max's only chance?"

"Y-yes. To cure subject one's symptoms, this needs to be injected."

"Wonderful," I said and punched him out. I ran out and started racing through the corridors again. I hear someone coming and do a three-sixty spin. From behind, I'm grabbed by the neck and slammed up against the wall, knocked out.

Max's POV

I was flying towards the school in record timing. I was probably flying at around three hundred miles per hour. I needed to get to Fang. I couldn't have him get hurt. My life couldn't be easy. Everyone can't just stay home and be safe. No. Because this is my life.

Fang's POV

When I woke up, the first thing I was aware of was the lump in the back of my head. I was strapped, face down, to the metal table in the room I'd just left. The cold metal pressed against my body as I realized that I wasn't wearing a shirt. I heard a whitecoat walk in.

"Well, well," he said in a drawling voice. "Come to get the antidote for your girlfriend? Well, since you're here, we might as well run the same tests we did to subject one."

Then the whitecoat pressed a burning metal rod to my bare spine. I screamed in pain.

Max's POV

When I arrived at the entrance to the School, I saw the weirdest thing. The guards were unconscious. I landed by them and walked over. I noticed something else weird. One of the guards was missing an access card. I thought for a moment what this could be when it came to me. Only one person I know who could have done this. Fang. Which brought me to the horrible truth.

That meant that Fang was inside.


	18. Chapter 18

18

I ran inside the School and came across the room I was tortured in. I opened the door and saw a horrific sight. Fang was being tortured with the metal rod like I'd been. I snuck into the back, crouching so no one saw me. I needed a plan. I heard Fang scream and winced. Correction: I needed a plan fast.

Fang's POV

The whitecoat pressed the rod to my back and I screamed again. The only thing I was thinking was 'Please, someone end this.' That's when I heard a loud 'thunk'. I tuned my head to look over my shoulder and smiled at what I saw. Max was standing there with a fire extinguisher in her hand, the whitecoat unconscious on the floor.

"How's it going, Fang?" she said, and put the fire extinguisher down to start unstrapping me.

Max's POV

"Let's get out of here," I said once I unstrapped Fang. We went out the door and ran down the hallway. We finally found a door labeled 'to roof'. We ran through it and up the pure white stairs I reached into my pocket and pressed a button on the top of a canister I'd confiscated from Gazzy and Iggy a while ago. As soon as we did an up and away, I opened the jar and spilled its contents onto the roof. What was inside looked like... marbles. The building exploded when the marbles hit the roof, but Fang and I didn't get more than a few scratches. We looked at each other and smiled. You might as well go out with a bang. We finally found a cave to sleep in for the night and went to sleep immediately.


	19. Chapter 19

19

I woke up drenched in sweat and my arm was searing in pain. I screamed as the pain quickly spread to my feet. Soon my left arm and my head were the only part of me not in burning pain. My body was cringing and shaking. My screams woke Fang and he jumped to his feet and froze when he saw me.

Fang's POV

I froze. I didn't know what to do. I had planned to inject Max with the antidote, but I just couldn't bring myself to grab the needle in my knife holster strapped to my ankle.

"Fang!" Max screamed in desperation. "Help me!"

Her voice snapped me out of it. I crouched down and grabbed the needle on my ankle. I pushed the needle into Max's arm and she relaxed. Then she closed her eyes.

Max's POV

Fang crouched down beside me and pushed a needle into my arm and the pain stopped. Then my vision faded as I passed out.

Fang's POV

"Max!" I said as her eyes closed. I checked to see if she was breathing. To my relief, she was. I tried shaking her awake, but it didn't work. I picked her up and took off, cradling her in my arms.

It took me about a few hours to reach the house. I ran in, still holding an unconscious Maximum Ride. The flock was watching TV when I came in. All heads turned to me as I rushed in and went to Max's room. Jeb and Dr. Martinez rushed in, followed by the rest of the flock.

"What's wrong?" Jeb asked in alarm. I quickly explained what happened. "Can I see the needle?" he said, so I handed him the needle.

"I'll examine this and then see what I can do." he said, and walked out of the room. Everyone else followed him. I lie down on the bed, my arms around Max, and fell asleep.


	20. Chapter 20

21

The next morning, I was the last to wake up. I came downstairs and my mom was in the kitchen cooking while everyone else was sitting eagerly at the breakfast table. Fang turned and gave me a half smile when he saw me, and I sat down next to him, our ankles together. My mom served us pancakes from scratch. With real maple syrup. Ahhh, I love my mom. We all ate about a dozen pancakes. Except for me and Fang of course. We had about sixteen.

After breakfast, we were all watching TV when Nudge said, "Can we fly in the canyon?"

"Sure," I replied. "We can all go. C'mon."

We all ran outside and took off. It was just like old times. Except for Dylan. Well, almost like old times. But flying wasn't the only thing we did.

"Erasers!" Gassy screamed. We all flew to the ground and took fighting stances. We tried our best, but there were too many. One threw Nudge when she tried to hit him and she landed with a thud on the ground and didn't move. Angel ran over to her and tried to help her. Gazzy and Iggy were both knocked out as well. I looked over once more to see Fang pinned to the ground by an eraser with a chokehold on him, his knee on Fang's chest. I ran over and tackled the eraser on top of Fang, knocking him out. Fang got up as another eraser grabbed his hands and pinned them behind his back. An eraser did the same to me. Just then, a chopper came in and hovered slightly above the ground. The eraser threw Fang in and then jumped in after him. Another quickly grabbed Fang's arms again and bound them with duct tape. The helicopter flew off and all of the erasers retreated. I walked over to Ig and the Gasman. Angel had woken Nudge up and they came over along with Dylan. I picked up Gaz and Dylan picked up Iggy. We all walked silently into the house. My mom gasped when she saw all of our injuries. Dylan and I put Gaz and Ig in Gazzy's room on the bed. I sat with them in the silence. Ig woke up in about half an hour and Gazzy woke up about five minutes later.

"Ouch," Iggy said, rubbing his head. "Was I kicked by a horse?"

"I feel the same way, man," said Gazzy, stretching his arms and his neck.

"It's okay now, guys," I said. "You're safe."

I gave them a fake smile and left the room. I walked down the hall into my room and flopped on my bed and groaned. Finally I lost it and punched a hole in the wall. As I pulled my hand plaster-covered hand out of the wall, my mom came running.

"What happened?" she said. Then her gaze set on the hole in the wall.

"I can't do this anymore!" I screamed. "I just got him back and now he gets captured! Ahhhhh!"

I fell sideways back onto the bed and put one hand over my stomach and another under my head. "He's gone again."

My mom sat next to me and rubbed my back. "It'll be okay."

"No, mom, it won't. You must have left the school before the torture. It's bad there, mom," I said very serious. "I will go after him. If the rest of the flock wants to come that's fine. But It's horrifying to think of what he might be going through right now."


	21. Chapter 21

21

The next morning, I was the last to wake up. I came downstairs and my mom was in the kitchen cooking while everyone else was sitting eagerly at the breakfast table. Fang turned and gave me a half smile when he saw me, and I sat down next to him, our ankles together. My mom served us pancakes from scratch. With real maple syrup. Ahhh, I love my mom. We all ate about a dozen pancakes. Except for me and Fang of course. We had about sixteen.

After breakfast, we were all watching TV when Nudge said, "Can we fly in the canyon?"

"Sure," I replied. "We can all go. C'mon."

We all ran outside and took off. It was just like old times. Except for Dylan. Well, almost like old times. But flying wasn't the only thing we did.

"Erasers!" Gassy screamed. We all flew to the ground and took fighting stances. We tried our best, but there were too many. One threw Nudge when she tried to hit him and she landed with a thud on the ground and didn't move. Angel ran over to her and tried to help her. Gazzy and Iggy were both knocked out as well. I looked over once more to see Fang pinned to the ground by an eraser with a chokehold on him, his knee on Fang's chest. I ran over and tackled the eraser on top of Fang, knocking him out. Fang got up as another eraser grabbed his hands and pinned them behind his back. An eraser did the same to me. Just then, a chopper came in and hovered slightly above the ground. The eraser threw Fang in and then jumped in after him. Another quickly grabbed Fang's arms again and bound them with duct tape. The helicopter flew off and all of the erasers retreated. I walked over to Ig and the Gasman. Angel had woken Nudge up and they came over along with Dylan. I picked up Gaz and Dylan picked up Iggy. We all walked silently into the house. My mom gasped when she saw all of our injuries. Dylan and I put Gaz and Ig in Gazzy's room on the bed. I sat with them in the silence. Ig woke up in about half an hour and Gazzy woke up about five minutes later.

"Ouch," Iggy said, rubbing his head. "Was I kicked by a horse?"

"I feel the same way, man," said Gazzy, stretching his arms and his neck.

"It's okay now, guys," I said. "You're safe."

I gave them a fake smile and left the room. I walked down the hall into my room and flopped on my bed and groaned. Finally I lost it and punched a hole in the wall. As I pulled my hand plaster-covered hand out of the wall, my mom came running.

"What happened?" she said. Then her gaze set on the hole in the wall.

"I can't do this anymore!" I screamed. "I just got him back and now he gets captured! Ahhhhh!"

I fell sideways back onto the bed and put one hand over my stomach and another under my head. "He's gone again."

My mom sat next to me and rubbed my back. "It'll be okay."

"No, mom, it won't. You must have left the school before the torture. It's bad there, mom," I said very serious. "I will go after him. If the rest of the flock wants to come that's fine. But It's horrifying to think of what he might be going through right now."


	22. Chapter 22

22

Fang's POV

I struggled against the bindings but it was no use. I watched as I was being taken away from my family. I silently willed them to stay on the ground and not try to get in the helicopter. I knew that if the did, they would get shot by a few trigger-happy erasers with machine guns that were surrounding me. I would just have to tough it out for a while.

I'll hang in there, guys. I won't let them hurt me.

Max's POV

"Okay, guys," I said as I walked into the living room. "I'm going after him. Who's coming?"

Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel were the first to stand up. "I'll come," they all said. Iggy was next to stand up. "You might need me for some locks."

All eyes turned to Dylan. He looked around. "Okay fine. I'll go. But just to protect Max."

"Okay. Everyone pack a few things and we'll head out," I said and everyone rushed to there rooms to pack. I walked to my room and swung the already packed backpack onto my back. I went into the kitchen to grab some food. My mom was standing there with about a dozen lightweight to-go containers.

"Thanks, mom," I said and I gave her a hug. "I want you, Ella, and Jeb to stay here and be careful."

"We'll be fine," she replied and gave me a smile. "I want you to be careful."

I walked into the living room where I found everyone standing in a circle, each with a small backpack. I handed them each of them two containers and we flew off.

Fang's POV

When the helicopter landed, I was pushed out and taken inside the school. I was pushed inside a dog crate and the duct tape was taken off me.

"Having fun, princess?" an eraser snarled and kicked my crate. The other erasers laughed as they all left the room. When they were all gone, I curled up in a ball and retreated inside myself, the only place left to retreat to.


	23. Chapter 23

23

I flew as fast as I could without ditching the flock. I needed to get there faster.

"Guys!" I yelled to the flock over the wind. "I'm going to go up ahead and scope it out before you get there! Dylan's in charge until we meet up again!"

And with that, I entered super speed. The truth was I just couldn't bear to go that slow anymore. Fang was in trouble and I needed to help him. In no time, the School came into sight. I landed on the roof and looked down. Two guards. They shouldn't be hard to take out. Just as I was trying to estimate how long it would take the flock to get to me, I heard footsteps behind me. I whirled around to see... me. The fake me.

"Hello, Max," she sneered. She caught me in my shock and knocked me out.

'Max's' POV

This was going to be fun! I grabbed the real Max and dragged her behind some wooden crates and walked back out just as I saw her flock flying towards me. When they landed I noticed that Dylan was carrying Angel.

"What happened?" I asked, trying to sound like I cared.

"She was getting really tired and so I carried her," he replied.

"Here," I said, taking the snotty little seven-year-old from him. "I'll put her over here while we go in." this was perfect. The mind reader was asleep, so she won't be able to tell that I'm not Max! I placed her down on the other side of the crates and turned to the flock. Man, Dylan was cute! I can't see why Max doesn't just ditch Fang for him. But for now, I have to like Fang. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

"Ready? Lets take these guards out," I said and jumped down, opening my wings for a light landing. I quickly took the guards out. They didn't fight back. All part of the plan. I motioned for the flock to follow me and we ran through the doors. We didn't run into anyone as I led them through the corridors. When we finally reached the big metal double doors to Fang's room, I turned to the flock and put my finger to my lips. They nodded, looking dead serious. I pushed open the big double doors and Fang looked up. His face immediately lit up.

"Max!" he whispered. His eyes filled with longing. Pathetic.

Max's POV

I woke up behind a crate with a slight headache. That jerk knocked me out! I peered over the edge of the crates. I was alone. Wait! I wasn't alone. Right by the crate was a small, seven-year-old body. Angel! Had the fake Max knocked her out, too? I got up and walked around the crates just as Angel's foot twitched and she opened her eyes and stretched out her arms, yawning.

"Hi, Max," she said. She looked at me and then looked around. "What happened?" she said, looking confused.

"I want to know the same thing," I muttered. Then everything more or less snapped into perspective. "The fake Max. Angel, the fake Max took my place when I was here alone. And since you were sleeping, you couldn't tell the difference. We have to run." I picked up Angel and put her on my hip as I jumped down and opened my wings for impact. Still holding Angel, I ran in and bolted through the corridors.

'Max's' POV

I unlocked Fang's cage and he rushed out. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me. Since I was the 'real Max' for a while, I kissed back. Just then the doors opened.

Max's POV

I came in and saw the flock. but what horrified me was the fact that Fang was in the middle of the room, kissing the other Max. Everything went silent and Fang broke away from the fake Max. Fang's eyes went wide and for once he was speechless from shock and not because he didn't want to talk. Angel was the one to break the silence.

"Wrong Max," she said, her face hard. Fang just nodded weakly. I looked at the other Max and she gave me an evil smile. Holding back tears, I turned around and ran with Angel. I got back outside and I started the flight back home.


	24. Chapter 24

24

I flew home, carrying Angel because she can't fly at my speed. It took a little longer, but it worked. I landed in front of the house and placed Angel on her feet. We came inside and my mom was in the kitchen cooking with Ella. I ran to my room and shut the door behind me.

My door creaked open and I looked over, expecting to see my mom. Instead it was Ella, my half sister.

"Hey, Max," she said, sitting on the bed next to me.

"Hey, Ella," I replied, my voice cracking.

"Okay, Max. Tell me what happened," she stared at me intently. So I told her what happened. "Okay," she said at the end. "I know that you're upset, but tell me what exactly it is that you're sad about."

"Well, I really don't know. I guess it wasn't Fang's fault. I mean she is my clone. But I think it's just the fact that the clone would do that to us. It's scary to think what she could do to us." That's the closest thing I've ever done to admitting that I was scared.

"Max, I can't believe how brave you are. From the day I met you, I looked up to you. You got shot to save me and you didn't even know me then! And you stayed calm on top of that! Anyone else would have left me there. And right now, most people would freak out and just crack! But not you. You truly are Maximum."

I looked up at Ella. "That means so much to me," I said, and I hugged her. "You're a great sister."

We smiled at each other and walked out into the living room. As if on cue, the rest of the flock came in. Fang came in last, carrying the fake Max, tied up and mouth duct taped shut, behind him.

"I'm sorry for before, Max," Fang said. "I should have known-,"

"No," I cut him off. "You couldn't have known, Fang. She's my clone. And I'm not mad at you. But there is one thing I think it's truly time for."

"What?" Fang said curiously.

"I think," I said. "that it's time to truly see who is the better Maximum Ride."


	25. Chapter 25

25

"Max," Fang said. We went into my room to talk alone. "Don't do this." I noticed something in his voice and eyes that I'd never seen in Fang before. He was... scared.

"Fang," I said. "I have to. I'm not going to kill her when she's tied up. I'd just be a coward. I have to face her. I'll be okay." I forced a smile and got up to leave. Fang grabbed my wrist and spun me around.

"I know when you're lying, Max."

"Please don't make this harder for me."

"Max. Don't forget that you're blood runs through my veins. Remember? I-I can't let you do this."

"Don't worry. I almost beat her once. I can do it again."

"Fine. But I won't watch." then we both walked out of the room. I went to the living room and nodded to Dylan, who was holding the other Max. We all walked outside and Dylan untied Max2. We each went to opposite sides of the yard and took fighting stances.

"This is going to be too easy," said Max2.

"Yes it is," I replied snidely. I looked her in the eyes. Big mistake. Excruciating pain ran through every nerve in my body. Then, as soon as it started, it stopped. "What-,"

"We all have powers, Max." Crap. This was going to be harder than I expected. "That's not my only new talent."

I lunged at her but my body froze in midair and I fell to the Earth. "Yes, Max. I can control minds."

I need to find her weakness. Got it! She needs focus to use her skills. I need to break her focus. While she was still laughing, I swung my foot and knocked her to the ground. Then, I quickly picked her up and slammed her into the trunk of a tree. I punched Max2 in the stomach, making her spit out blood.

"You? Maximum? You must be joking!" I punched her nose. "I was born for this."

She focused enough to use her power again. I fell to the ground writhing in pain. But this time she didn't stop. I screamed for it to stop. For the pain to end.

/spanFang's POV

I was watching the fight from the window in my third story room. I had to make sure Max was okay. I saw Max pin the other fake Max to a tree. Go, Max. I thought. Then I saw her double over in pain and land and the ground, screaming. Max2 was laughing. I flung the window open and jumped out, wings outstretched. I charged towards her when suddenly my body exploded in pain. I ended up like Max.

Angel's POV

Angel noticed what was going on and quickly charged forward, with her mind. She invaded Max2's mind and Max and Fang got to their knees, shaking and out of breath.

You're not going to hurt them anymore. Angel projected this thought to Max2. You are going to stay still.

Fang's POV

When the pain stopped, I reached over and put my arm around Max's waist and helped her to her feet. She was so shaky, it almost broke my heart. Just then, Max2 broke from Angel's spell and stared at Max. She passed out in my arms and I laid her at the base of a tree and kissed her forehead.

I noticed Max2 was in a fighting stance, locked in a mind combat with Angel. It was my change and I took it. I lunged at her and pinned her up against the tree.

"Don't you ever mess with my family again," I said, making my voice sound as lethal as possible. I was about to punch her face when she spoke.

"But Fang," she said in a heartbroken voice with longing eyes. "I thought you loved me."

For a moment, I hesitated. That was enough. She struck and I fell to my knees in pain. This time images flooded my mind. Images of Max smiling, her being ripped from me, her in pain.

Angel's POV

The fake Max was strong. She held Fang in pain and Max unconscious. Angel broke into her mind once more, giving her something she wasn't worthy of.

Fang's POV

The pain stopped and I looked up. The Max that had been laughing now stood with a surprised look on her face. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she fell to the ground and didn't move. I got up and so did Max. The real Max. She staggered toward us as we all went over to the clone's body. Max was unsteady so I held her tightly to keep her up.


	26. Chapter 26

26

"Angel?" I spoke up. "What-What did you do?"

"I gave her a peaceful death," whispered Angel. "She didn't deserve it, but it was the only thing I could do."

It was scary, what she was capable of. "Angel? I agree that you did the right thing. I don't know what would have happened if you didn't, but please, don't use that again unless it is a very last resort."

"I promise, Max," she replied. I looked down at the body. It was very frightening, like looking at my own grave. Fang, whose face was much paler than normal, silently took his arm off of me and walked in the house. I was next to go inside. I went into Fang's room and found him sitting there, face still pale, staring out the window.

"Are you okay, Fang?" I asked. He shook his head slightly in reply.

"When you were unconscious, I was about to punch her, and she said 'Fang, don't you love me?' It made me hesitate. It was hard for me to fight her. And it was scary for me to see her body. It made me feel like you were gone."

"I know, Fang," I said, sitting next to him and holding him tight. "It was hard for me, too."

We stayed like that for a while and the whole flock came in. I went to my room and got ready for bed and decided to tuck them in. I went to Iggy's room and said good night and did the same to Nudge and Gazzy. I walked to Angel's room but all I saw was an empty bed. My heart dropped and I ran outside to see if she was there. I found her sitting next to the fake Max, a blank look on her face. I picked her up and carried her to bed.

"Are you okay, Angel?" I asked as I tucked her in.

"Yeah, I guess," she said. "I just can't believe that I-I..."

"It's okay," I said and rubbed her back. "Its okay."

I stayed with her for about ten minutes until she fell asleep. I even poked my head in Dylan's room and said goodnight. I visited my mom and Ella after that. The last room I went to was Fang's. He was still sitting on the end of his bed where I'd left him two hours ago.

"It's late, Fang. You should get some sleep," I said. He turned to me and his eyes were soft. He was less pale now. He looked a little better, but he still looked like something was wrong. "I love you, and I'm still here." With that I left the room and went to sleep.


	27. Chapter 27

27

Fang's POV

Something wasn't right. I felt really weird, I felt like I had a fever, but I didn't feel like I was sick. I felt like... I'd been drugged or something. Just without that time-stops kind of feeling. I didn't tell Max because I didn't want to worry her. I lay down on the bed, shaking a little, and finally fell asleep.

Max's POV

I was worried about Fang. He didn't look good, like he was about to faint or something. It was weird. If he still looked bad in the morning, I'll mention it to him. What if he was expiring? I pushed that thought out of my mind. It wouldn't be possible. I was older than Fang, so I would be the first. Now I know What Fang felt when I was sick. Please let Fang be okay, I thought as I fell asleep.

Fang's POV

Dylan's arms wrapped around her. He put his hands on the back of her head and leaned in. kissing her. I was horrified when Max's arms wrapped around Dylan's neck and she kissed back. She turned her head to me, still holding Dylan, and spoke.

"You left me, Fang," She said. "I loved you and you left me." She looked at me with cold eyes and went back to kissing Dylan. I tried to speak but I couldn't move. The scene became distant as I fell through the floor into darkness.

I woke up and I was sitting up in my bed, drenched in cold sweat. There was definitely something wrong with me. I had to make sure my nightmare didn't become reality. I put my head in my hands and thought. I eventually lay back down and went into a shaky sleep.


	28. Chapter 28

28

I woke up early and walked silently downstairs careful not to wake the others. As I passed Fang's room, I heard heavy breathing, like him after a fight. I slowly opened the door and peered in. What I saw was horrifying. Fang was stiff and rigid lying on the bed. I whipped the door open silently and ran over to Fang.

"Fang!" I whispered. "Fang, what's wrong?" I put my hand on his rigid jaw. He winced and started shaking harder. I pulled my hand away.

"Something at the School," He choked out and my blood ran cold. "Get Jeb."

Normally, I wouldn't go to Jed for help in a million years, but right now Fang was infected with some kind of evil scientist solution and if anyone knew that stuff, it was Jeb. He was Fang's only hope. I raced out of Fang's room and ran down the hall to Jeb's room. I violently pushed the door open and ran to Jeb's bed in the corner. His room had a desk cluttered with papers next to his bed.

"Jeb!" I yelled. He just grumbled and turned a little. "Jeb!" I yelled again. No reply. Man, he's a heavy sleeper. I slapped his face and that woke him up.

"Huh? Ah!" he said when he saw my deadly gaze. "What's wrong?"

"Fang!" I yelled and grabbed his wrist, dragging him out of bed. He got to his feet and caught up with me bolting back into Fang's room.

"What's wr-" he stopped when he saw Fang. "What happened?"

"At the School," choked out Fang. "I don't know what's-,"

Another wave of pain rolled over him and he was shaking worse than ever now. His eyes scared me the most. When he blinked, his irises were blood red and frightening. For a second, time stopped and he looked at me with hatred and I've never felt more scared in my entire life. I fell to the floor on the spot and fainted.

When I woke up, I was lying in my own bed. Judging by the light, it was about midday. I slowly sat up and the memories of this morning hit me. Fang's cold, hate-filled eyes locking with mine. I fell back onto the bed. Jeb must have dragged me in here. Fang. Where was he? How was he doing? Was he still... breathing? I slowly got up again and walked to Fang's room. I opened the door and saw Fang sitting on the edge of his bed in the dark, his back to the door. Even though it was the middle off the day, the dark walls made it feel like night. He was looking down and turned when he heard me come in.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"I feel a bit better, but... what happened?" he said.

"Well, you started shaking, reacted to my touch like it was painful, and you looked at me like you wanted to kill me. It terrified me so much that I, uh... passed out."

"I have no memory of it just a bit after Jeb walked in. Weird." Major understatement.

"Fang, I-I'm..." I stuttered. "I'm scared," I whispered. I sat down next to Fang and cried. He rubbed my back and whispered "Its okay."


	29. Chapter 29

28

After a while I left Fang to rest. He needed it after how his morning went. I went into the kitchen and found Jeb. I sat down at the counter and stared at him. He looked up and saw me. "Yes?" he asked.

"How much time?" I asked, a deadness to my voice. Jeb raised one eyebrow and gave me a quizzical look. "How long until he dies?" I clarified.

"Max-," he started.

"Just tell me how much time I have left with him!" I yelled softly, my voice shaking. Jeb paused and took a deep breath, as if contemplating.

"Two weeks." he whispered. "If I don't find out what's wrong with him. But until then, it looks like two weeks."

I sat there, too shocked to do anything. Fang had two weeks to live. I felt like curling under a rock and dying. Finally, I found the courage to speak. "Lets not tell the others. I'll tell... but lets keep it between the three of us."

"Are you sure you wouldn't want me to tell him?"

"No, It has to be me. He wouldn't believe anyone else."

Jeb nodded his head in understanding and I walked out, as if I was going to a funeral. And in a way, I was. I walked to Fang's room and paused at the door. I gained the courage and pushed it open. Fang was sitting by his window, the curtains drawn. "Fa-" I started but when he turned his head, his eyes were blood red and vicious. My heart stopped and I froze. He got up and walked toward me, bloodlust still in his eyes.

"You're so ignorant," he said. "You completely fell for it! You see, I'm not you're precious Fang. I'm his clone. I was injected with a strain of his more personal DNA. Liquid memories, you might call it. So I wasn't technically controlling myself. Just merely watching. This was for the sake of that pathetic mind-reading freak you have. My thoughts matched his and there was no suspicion. So no need to congratulate me on the acting job; it was all real," He stopped. When I didn't reply, He started to get angry. "Don't you get it, Max?

"Fang was never here."


	30. Chapter 30

30

Fang was never here. His words rang inside my head. It was all a trick. They made me think that he was back. The whitecoats had hurt me before, thrown many below the belt, but this was an all time low. They'd messed with my love life. The worst part was that I thought I had him, but I was just hanging on to wishful thinking. "Why are you here then?" I choked out.

"Isn't that obvious, Max?" he said, his back to me. At the speed of light, in one swift motion, he spun around and kicked me so I flew into the wall. He came up to me and held me in the air, pinned to the wall by my neck. "I'm here to kill you."

I was choking and could barely fight back because he was too much of Fang. I reminded myself that he wasn't Fang, and found the strength to kick him in the stomach so he would let me go. I had a moment to catch my breath before he produced a knife that was strapped to his ankle and lunged at me. I jumped to the side but was too slow. He'd stuck the knife into my shoulder, making a deep cut. I screamed in pain as I fell to the ground. Blood flowed down my shirt as I tried to get back up. I got to my feet and staggered, almost falling. I scowled at him as I tried to stay on my feet. I fell, trying to catch myself but I immediately realized that my left arm was no longer usable. Just then the entire flock rushed in to see me bleeding on the ground and who they thought was Fang standing across the room with an evil grin on his face.

"What the-," Dylan started, but Angel shot him a knowing look as she mentally explained everything to them. They all assumed fighting stances. They surrounded Fang II. There was a flurry of kicks and punches as I lay on the ground, bleeding. When everything cleared, I saw Dylan had Fang II pinned to a wall, the knife at his throat. I swore Dylan was smiling. I stared, Too shocked to move, at the horrific scene in front of me.

"No!" I yelled, tears forming in my eyes. "Don't! Please, stop."

Dylan looked at me and saw the pain in my eyes. Understanding, he put the knife in between his teeth and, not letting go of Fang II, ripped the bottom strip off of his shirt. In one fluid motion, Dylan pushed him off the wall and onto the floor, tying his hands behind his back with the strip of his shirt. He picked him up and held the knife to his back. "Move and it'll be the last thing you ever do," he said in a deadly voice. "What do we do with him?" He looked at me and gave Fang II a little shake.

"We give him a peaceful death," I say, because I know I wouldn't be able to handle it in any other way. "Angel?" She looked at me and shook her curly head.

"I... can't. I can get into his mind, but I just can't force myself to do it," she says sadly.

"Jeb?" I say. He gives me a solemn nod and then disappears through the door to get something and is back with a needle. He gently presses it into Fang II's and empties the contents. His eyes closed and he fell limp in Dylan's arms. Everything went silent.

"Let's do hat we did for Max II," I say solemnly. They all give me nods and we go outside. We put him in the woods and cover him with wildflowers. We walked back to the house. Its not until we get in that I remember my shoulder. I silently wrap it up in Ace bandages and go to my room.

Fang was never here.

Those words still rang in my head. I had to quit being so optimistic. I needed to realize that nothing ever lasts forever. I realized then that I was never going to get Fang back. Maybe not even in twenty years.


	31. Chapter 31

31

I never really had him. He never really came back. It feels like life is slipping through my fingers every time I turn around. I just need to quit being such a lovesick idiot and face the fact that I won't get him back. We had our last kiss at the wedding and that's it. I need to move on. He freaking left me and that's it! I realized that he probably never really loved me anyway. Why cant I just get over him?

Dylan's POV

Max was changed. He could tell that Fang II really took an emotional toll on her. She seemed more... hard? Cold. Unforgiving. Distant. He could tell that she was never fully going to get over this until Fang came back. Or she hooked up with someone else. And now she could be desperate to do just that. Dylan smiled to himself as he had and idea.

Angel's POV

Angel was skipping down the hall innocently when she passed Dylan's room. She stopped as she heard his thoughts. Her eyes widened as she heard his plan. She thought for a moment and thought it was best to keep this information to herself. Especially away from Max. After what's happened, Angel was interested in how Max would react to this. Angel giggled softly as she skipped happily back to her room.


	32. Chapter 32

32

Flying. Flying truly is freedom. I was flying solo around our house at around six o'clock. The sunset cast a pink and orange glow across the sky. I flew into the forest by our house and landed in a clearing. I looked around and was a bit surprised at how pretty it was. There was a large, perfectly flat-topped rock at the end and next to it was a rose bush in full bloom. There were trees that provided a light shade. I lay down on my side on the boulder, my head propped up on my arm. As I looked up at the sky, I rolled onto my back and just lay there, gazing up at the sky. I closed my eyes, just for a moment, and smiled. I made a mental note to remember this place whenever I needed time alone again.

That's when I heard a rustling in the bushes. I opened my eyes just slightly and, without moving, I looked to my right to see Dylan trying to be as quiet as possible. He thought I was sleeping. He knelt down beside the boulder and seamlessly slipped his hand under my head. He put his head over mine and I opened my eyes fully just as he kissed me. I was so shocked that I probably wasn't thinking straight, because the next thing I did was, not punch him, but I wrapped my arms around him and kissed back. Yes folks, I kissed Dylan. And to tell you the truth, I wasn't really mad at him afterwards. I actually liked it. I surprised even myself.

When we broke apart, Dylan looked in my eyes and saw that I wasn't mad. He smiled and hugged me.

"Max," he said, holding me tightly as I hugged him back. "Max, I'm sorry. I just, I was following you and- and you, looked so peaceful, and I-I..." he stuttered.

"It's alright, " I said, still not believing what just happened. "I'm not mad."

"I really love you," he said, holding me at arms length so his hands were on my shoulders and he was looking me in the eyes.

"I think," I said. "I think I love you, too."

He smiled and spoke. "C'mon. Let's get back. I think your mom's making dinner."

I smiled and we took off into the pink sky. We arrived at the house and Dylan, with a big smile, put his arm around my shoulders. We sat down on the couch next to each other and everyone gave us weird looks.

"Dinner!" my mom yelled in a singsong voice from the kitchen. We all sat down at the table (Dylan sat next to me) and we ate pizza for dinner.

After dinner, I went to my room and lay down on my bed. Today had a very big turn of events.


	33. Chapter 33

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The reality of that day hit me when I went to bed that night. Oh my god, what was I doing? Kissing Dylan! I immediately felt guilty. Fang was my soul mate. Not Dylan. Then I remembered that Fang had left me. He didn't love- no, he still loved me, right? He had to. I mean, he wouldn't... change his mind, would he? No. He left and that was his problem, not mine. If he didn't want to be with me, then I should enjoy it. I don't need Fang. I don't, right?

Fang's (the REAL Fang) POV

Since he'd seen Max at the cliff, Fang had tried his best to move on. He was looking for mutants to join his flock. He knew it was dangerous, but he had posted on his blog for all mutants to meet him in L.A. Once again he thought of Max, and once again he tried as hard as he could to push the thought out of his mind.

She doesn't love you anymore, he thought to himself. Se probably didn't, anyway. After he left her, who knows? Fang did a slow 360 spin of the field he was in. He suddenly saw the bushes at the edge of the field move and he focused there, alert. Fang was still on guard but relaxed just a bit when he saw that it was just two girls, probably mutants coming to meet him. As they came into view, he noticed that one girl was unconscious, her friend doing her best to carry her. They both looked about his age. The girl dragging her friend had long dark brown hair and stunning aquamarine-blue eyes. She was wearing a T-shirt and jeans, both torn. Her unconscious friend had shoulder-length dirty blonde hair and her eyes were closed. She was the only variation in clothing was that she wore a green shirt instead of white. The dark-haired girl saw Fang and her gaze was slightly hostile. It reminded him of Max and made him upset again. But he remained focused on the girls across the field. She was close enough for him to hear if she spoke, so she said one word.

"Fang?"

Fang nodded, then went over to them "What's wrong?"

"We were trying to get hear, we heard something and ran. She just dropped from exhaustion," the dark-haired girl explained. Fang nodded.

"What's you're name and your mutant ability?" he asked.

"I'm Caroline and this is Hayley. We escaped the lab together. We're bear hybrids."

Angel's POV

Max seemed different, Angel thought. When Max had first come home from the forest with Dylan that day, it had seemed that she truly might have loved Dylan. By nighttime, it seemed that she was mostly using it was a way to get back at Fang for leaving.


	34. Chapter 34

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I woke up the next morning seeming so confused. Should I really be with Dylan? I went through all the same things in my head that I had the night before as I got dressed and combed my hair as best as possible. I went downstairs to find Iggy and Gazzy in the living room playing video games, and Dylan, Jeb, my mom, and Ella sitting at the kitchen table having breakfast. I guessed that Nudge and Angel were still sleeping; because when I came down I had passed their closed door and heard faint, steady breathing coming from it.

"Max!" Ella cried softly, so not to wake the others. She ran over to me and gave me a hug. Then we both went back to the table. She resumed her seat next to our mom and I sat down next to Dylan and quickly kissed his cheek. He smiled and Jeb's eyes widened.

"So you're with Dylan, now?" was all he said. I smiled and nodded. My mom got up and went into the kitchen. She came back and set a steaming plate of eggs in front of everyone. When I finished, I put my plate in the sink, and then went to wake up Nudge and Angel. I pushed open their door as quietly as possible, and walked in to find Angel curled up in her bed behind a curtain, and Nudge sprawled out on hers. I gently shook them awake and then went to my own room. I lay down on my bed and I heard a knock on my door. I opened it to find Ella and let her in.

"What's up?" I say as we sat down on the edge of the bed.

"So, what made you hook up with Dylan?" she said slowly.

"I just kind of realized that since Fang left me, I might as well."

But you hated him."

"Yeah, for trying to break up Fang and me. Now that that doesn't exist anymore, I figured I liked him."

"Max, I get that you're mad that Fang left you, but... no. That doesn't mean you should get together with Dylan."

I don't know, Ella."

Fang's POV

"Is there anything you can do to help her?" Caroline said.

"Let's bring her to a cave I found. It's safe," Fang replied. Just then they heard a rustling to the left of them and they snapped their heads that way. Two boys came running out of the forest. One had shaggy dark brown hair and the same blue eyes as Caroline. He actually resembled Caroline, in a way. The other resembled Hayley, but a little less. He had shaggy light orange hair and hazel eyes. Well, that's creepy, Fang thought. Two pairs of kids that looked like each other. Wow.

"Wait!" the redhead yelled. They ran towards Fang and the girls. "We want in. I'm Jake and this is Matt." The redhead, Jake, patted Matt's shoulder. Matt turned his head to Jake and glared at him, clearly not wanting to be there. If looks could kill...

They both looked back at Fang. Jake was practically jumping up and down.

"What are you?" Fang asked, a perfectly reasonable question.

"Wolves," Matt replied, his voice dripping with danger. He didn't have that sort of demonic Eraser voice, so Fang figured that this was a different kind of wolf hybrid.

"C'mon. Follow me," said Fang.


	35. Chapter 35

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Ella might be right. Was I just making myself pretend to be in love with Dylan because I was mad at Fang? It all goes down to one question that I desperately wanted the answer to. Does Fang still love me? Well, he wasn't here for me to ask him, and if you don't ask, the answer is always no. But I still had that small bit of doubt. The thought that he just might still have feelings for me...

Fang's POV

Fang had had Caroline, Jake, and Matt climb up the cliffside to get into a cave that he had scoped out earlier. Jake and Matt got up fine, but Caroline had a bit of trouble Fang had flown an unconscious Hayley into the cave.

Now they were all in the cave, roasting a few rats that Fang had caught over a fire. Hayley still lay where Fang had put her; propped up against the cave wall. He had come to the conclusion that she had passed out from exhaustion and just needed some rest.

"So where did you guy's come from?" Fang asked. That was mutant for "Where was the lab where the sick scientists put your DNA together?" but it was a bit more polite. Not that manners had ever been a big priority for Fang.

"Some sicko lab in Germany," said Matt in a slightly bored voice. "They were going to transfer us to another lab and after the flight we bolted."

"We came from some lab in Canada," said Caroline. Fang almost choked on his rat, but kept a straight face. Dylan was from a lab in Canada. "They kept talking about you guys, so when we got access to a computer after we escaped, we actually googled you and found your blog."

"A lab in Canada," Fang said, hoping his voice wasn't shaking. "Was there another bird kid there by any chance?"

"Yeah, actually. He got some kind of special treatment. We never saw him, but the scientists did mention him. What was his name? Daren? Dameon?"

"Dylan?" Fang pretended to guess, but he already knew.

"That's it! Dylan. At one point I saw pictures on one of those big conference boards through the door window. He was pretty hot," she said and casually took another bite of her rat-b-que. She was from the same lab as that freak? Fang thought. It wasn't her fault. She never even met him.

Fang just nodded his head and then said it was time to get some sleep. He put the fire out as everyone else found their place in the cave to sleep. Fang sat down at the mouth of the cave and looked out at the wide expanse forest below. Fang turned to and watched Jake as he slowly shifted Hayley onto his lap and held her, careful not to wake her. When he saw that Fang was watching, Jake face got pink. He opened his mouth to try to give an excuse when Fang held up one silent hand and nodded in understanding. He looked further into the back of the cave and saw Matt and Caroline already fast asleep next each other, their ankles touching. He was pretty sure that Caroline fell asleep there before Matt had come over. His suspicion was confirmed when Matt peeked open his left eye to make sure that she was still asleep. Fang hoped that no one would take the other for granted. It was pretty amusing to Fang, seeing look-alikes next to each other. And those four had no idea about the similarities. The girls didn't even know that these guys liked them. Fang cracked a tiny smile, his first since he left, and went back to watch.


	36. Chapter 36

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I walked down the hall to Nudge and Angel's room. I walked in and found them both lying on their stomachs on Nudge's bed, fawning over magazines.

"Hey, guys!" I said, tapping on the door trim.

"Hi, Max!" said Nudge. "Look at this dress! Isn't it pretty?" She held up the magazine and pointed to a frilly pink dress. I agree and sit down between them.

"Maybe you could wear it on a date with Dylan," said Angel, a devious little smile on her face.

"You know we're not going to go on a real date," I said and ruffled her hair, trying not to sound annoyed.

"Why not?" she asked with that innocent look in her eyes.

"Well, it's just not that practical, and we don't have anywhere to go, anyway," I replied. She nodded her head.

"So how is Dylan?" Nudge asked, smiling.

"Guys, can we not make a big deal about me being with Dylan?"

"Fine."

"Good," I said and walked out of the room, not wanting to give them the opportunity to get under my skin.

Angel's POV

Angel watched Max walk out of the room and shut the door. When she was sure that Max was down the hall, Angel turned to Nudge.

"We need to get them on a real date," said Angel.

"Oh, yeah! Totally," replied Nudge.

Fang's POV

Fang started a fire as he watched his flock wake up. Jake woke up first and carefully propped Hayley back against the cave wall. He then came over and sat by the fire next to Fang.

"Um, Fang?" Jake asked. Fang cocked his head toward Jake and stayed silent. "Have you, um, ever had a girlfriend?"

At first Fang found it odd that he didn't know this, but then remembered he had never posted anything on his blog about that part of his life. "Yeah, I have."

"Really? Well, um, how did you tell her? 'Cause there's a girl I really like, and I don't know how. And- wait who was your girlfriend?"

Fang hesitated then answered. "Max. I loved her from the moment I saw her. We finally got together and then I had to leave. Long story. She's probably ripping the head off of a Fang doll right now. Anyway, how I told her? I said 'I choose you, Max' and then kissed her. It was probably really corny. So you really like Hayley?"

Jake face got red. "Obvious?"

"Well, let's see," Fang said. "You put her on your lap when she was sleeping. Judging by what I saw, yeah. But I don't think anybody else knows. Including Hayley."

"Do you mind keeping it that way? I don't want Matt to feel bad, you know? Him not having anyone," Jake gestured behind him casually. So he doesn't see Matt, Fang thought. He tucked this information away, noting not to tell the boys about the other. "He's like a brother to me," he added and Fang nodded in response.

"I understand. Just be careful with Hayley, okay? Try and make sure that you can be with her before you tell her. You could break her heart if she feels the same way."

"Fang?" Jake asked. "What happened with you and Max?"

Fang sighed from the memories. But he figured that Jake deserved to learn the story of another mutant's love life, so he could learn some possibilities of endings. "Basically, Max and I loved each other, but I found out that me being there put her in danger so I had to leave. I probably broke her heart," then Fang remembered the cliff. "She has her freaking model to snuggle with, anyway."

"Huh?"

"Her genetically engineered 'perfect other half', Mr. Perfect," Fang explained resentfully. He was just about to tell Jake to drop it when Matt sleepily scuffled over.

"'S'sup?" he said, rubbing his eyes.

"Rat?" Fang asked, handling him breakfast. Matt sat down and ate. Eventually, the girls woke up. Hayley had been a bit banged up but didn't complain. The five of them sat around the fire and ate roasted rat. I'm sorry, Max, Fang thought to himself. I'm sorry.


	37. Chapter 37

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Angel and Nudge were up to something. They had been running around upstairs with suspicious looks on their faces all day. I figured that it would be best if I got out of their way to stay out of the line of fire, so I went downstairs. I sat on the couch with Dylan and watched T.V.

After about two hours, I decided to go upstairs to my room. I thought that giving the girls space would keep me out of harm's way. Big mistake. They had turned my room into a whole date-night scene. On my bed was the pink frilly dress in the magazine Nudge had shown me. It was a light, sparkly pink strapless dress with a black trim along the bottom. The dress was surrounded with roses. They had surrounded my window, the very same place where I had cried over Fang time and time again, with roses and had a pink curtain hanging high above it. They had also transformed my master bathroom into a salon to get me ready. The counter was lined with all sorts of hair products and makeup. Basically, all the things I was scared of that wasn't particularly life threatening.

Just then, Angel walked in behind me. "Now you have a place to go on a date," she said in her sweet, angelic voice. I was about to say 'no' when and she spoke again. "Pleeeaaase, Max? For me and Nudge?"

I was about to put my foot down, but then I figured that Dylan and I were together, so we might as well go on a small date. "Oh, alright."

Nudge's POV

She agreed. Nudge heard angel's voice in her mind, a good sign. She'd gotten Max to agree to the date. Everything was going smoothly. Now just al long as Dylan cooperated...

Dylan's POV

Dylan got up from the couch a bit after Max left and went to his own room. He stopped at the doorway when he saw a black tuxedo sitting on his bed surrounded by roses. Nudge got up from the end of the bed and smiled at him. She gestured towards the tuxedo and spoke.

"It's for your date with Max," she said happily. Dylan nodded his head and let Nudge lead him into the bathroom.

Fang's POV

Fang told his flock to start climbing down the cliff and that he would meet them after he put out the fire.

"I'll help," said Matt. Fang sensed that Matt didn't just want to help for the fun of it, so he agreed. When everyone was out of the cave, Matt spoke.

"Hey, Fang? Can I ask you something?" he said.

"Let me guess. Girl questions?" Fang asked. He's now solving a bunch of fifteen-year-old kids' romance issues when he still had his own to think about.

"How'd you know?" Matt replied. Fang imitated Matt the night before, opening one eye to check on Caroline.

"Oh. Heh, heh," Matt said and scratched the back of his head nervously. "You saw that?"

Fang nodded. "What's your question?"

"Well, how do I tell her?"

"Well, first make sure you can be with her. Then, the next time you're alone, just tell her."

"Thanks. And, let's not mention this to Jake. I don't want him to feel left out. He's like a brother to me."

"Sure," Fang promised, refraining from laughing at the irony. "I'm sure he'd do the same for you."

"Really?" Matt asked.

"Positive."


	38. Chapter 38

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About two hours later, I was in my new dress with perfectly clean hair. Angel led me down the hall. We met Dylan in the middle of the hall. He looked stunning in his black tuxedo. I wondered how he had coped with Nudge. Dylan put his arm around my shoulders and we went back to my room.

"See you guys!" Nudge giggled, and shut the door timidly, leaving us alone. We sat down by the window and peered out.

"Nice night," Dylan said awkwardly.

"Yeah," I replied the same. "Do you mind if I go change?"

"But you look so pretty," he crooned playfully. "C'mon. Be a good sport." Then he spun me around so I was on his lap and he put his arms around my waist. He kissed me on the cheek and whispered in my ear. "I love you."

I smiled and kissed his cheek. I rolled over onto my stomach. Dylan kept his arms around me and kissed my head. I put my arms around him and looked out the window. It was actually... kind of nice.

Fang's POV

Fang watched Matt climb out of the cave. He went around the cave once more to eliminate any evidence of their stay. He was about to take off when he heard a scream. One of the girls. He closed his wings and dropped like a stone. On the cliffside, Matt had heard it, too, and morphed, running down the mountain. At the base, Fang landed in the middle of an eraser fight, immediately switching to battle mode.

Hayley's POV

Hayley was fending off and eraser wielding a short silver dagger. It slashed at Hayley and just grazed her shoulder, creating a moderate cut.

"Hey! Why'd you stab me?" she said, sounding a bit annoyed. She kicked the erasers hand flawlessly, disarming it. She quickly retrieved the dagger and stabbed the eraser. It fell to the ground, dead. With her new weapon, she took down erasers more efficiently.

Jake's POV

Jake was fighting off his own eraser, but kept shooting glances at Hayley to see how she was doing. She had somehow obtained a dagger, and was doing well. This comforted Jake a bit as he pounced on a nearby eraser.

Caroline's POV

Caroline did a three-sixty spin. She was surrounded. There was no fighting her way out of this one. Before she could act, an eraser grabbed her hands. Another held a knife to her throat, whispering in her ear not to move in an arrogant voice. They led her into the forest where a helicopter was waiting.

Matt's POV

Just as Matt reached the bottom of the cliff, he morphed back into human form and saw a glimpse of Caroline being led into the forest, a dagger at her throat. He was about to run towards her when he was knocked to the ground and a heavy boot was on his chest. Matt tried to morph but couldn't get enough air. Just when he started feeling lightheaded, the erasers all took off into the forest. When the helicopter rose, Matt could make out whips of brown hair and a pair of frightened blue eyes. The helicopter flew away, taking her out of sight. Although there was nothing there, Matt felt like the boot was once again pressing on his chest.

Fang's POV

When the erasers left, Fang looked around to see Jake rubbing the side of his head, Hayley pressing on her shoulder, and Matt on the ground, clutching his heart. Fang walked over to Matt and knelt down beside him. He was about to ask what was wrong when he realized. Caroline was gone. Just then, Hayley spoke.

"Where's-," she started but saw the answer in Fang's eyes. She sank to the ground and started sobbing. "She was, the, closest thing, I've, ever had, to, a sister."

Jake went over and sat down by Hayley. He put her on his lap and she sobbed into his shoulder as he rubbed her back.

"They went east, probably to the institute. We'll save her, I promise." Fang stated. He looked back over at Matt. He looked heart broken. _Is that how I left Max?_ he thought. Then he reminded himself of the cliff, but started doubting it. What if that wasn't how it happened? He started to feel a fresh pang of guilt. They had to go over Colorado anyway. He might as well pay a little visit. They could get there tonight if they took a plane.


	39. Chapter 39

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Dylan and I stayed there and talked (and yes, kissed) for a few hours, and eventually I fell asleep... on him. It was about ten o'clock when I woke up again. I guess I wasn't fully awake, because when I opened my eyes sleepily, I saw a black figure racing through the sky.

"Fang," I whispered.

"It's alright," Dylan replied. And with that, I drifted back to sleep.

Fang's POV

Fang had gotten plane tickets for the four of them; he'd even managed to get a stop in Colorado. He got off the plane and led his flock out into the woods nearby. When they found a safe spot, they started to settle in for the night.

"I need to leave for a bit," Fang said. "There's someone I need to visit... alone. I'll be back soon. Until then, Jake's in charge," and Fang flew off into the sunset sky in search of the house he knew all too well.

By about ten o'clock, he had found the house and started to circle it. As he focused on Max's window, what he saw broke his heart into yet more pieces. Max was in the window asleep on Dylan. And she was actually wearing a dress. It was so un-Max-like that he could barely believe it. Max was truly in love with Dylan. Fang sped away with tears flowing down his face.

Jake's POV

"Hey, Matt," Jake whispered, walking over to him. Hayley had just fallen asleep, leaving the boys alone. "You seem pretty upset about Caroline."

"Well, yeah," Matt replied. "I just don't want to loose a flock member."

"Well," Jake pressed on. "Me neither, but, I mean, you seem really upset."

Matt sighed. "Yes, I am. I think you know why. I didn't want to tell you 'cause I didn't want you to feel left out."

"Left out? You mean you really don't know about me and Hayley?"

"I seriously had no idea," Matt said.

"Well, I haven't even told her yet. And, uh," Jake replied, scratching the back of his head nervously. "I'm sorry 'bout your girlfriend."

"Not my girlfriend, Jake," Matt sighed, sounding annoyed. "I haven't told her yet either. Probably never get the chance."

"I'm sorry," Jake sympathized.

Fang's POV

Fang flew back to the clearing. Hayley was asleep at one side and the boys were on the other.

"Hey, Fang," Jake said when he saw him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Fang replied sadly. "You two should get some sleep. I'll take watch."

"Sure," Jake said, but didn't sound convinced. He and Matt lay down and fell asleep. Fang looked up into the sky and put his hand on his chest. A tear rolled down his cheek as he felt the empty hole where his heart should be.


	40. Chapter 40

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The next morning, I woke up and went downstairs. Dylan stood up and came over when he saw me. I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek. He smiled and put his arm around me. A normal day. It never stays like that in my life.

Around eleven o'clock, the erasers found us. They caught us by surprise, rappelling down from the roof and surrounding the house on all sides. They gassed the house, and I started feeling lightheaded. Angel, Nudge and Gazzy passed out first. Dylan, being bigger, was a bit less affected by the knockout gas. He threw one arm around my stomach, and the other over my mouth and nose. He was dragging me out side when he collapsed. I was still conscious because of his arm, but Dylan hadn't covered his own face. I got up and started dragging him out. Just when I got him outside, erasers grabbed us, dragging us into the forest.

When they stopped, we were in a base camp.

"We got 'em, Chief," said the eraser, pushing me forward.

Chief's POV

Finally. He finally got those vermin right in front of him. No longer would he be beaten for failure to capture them. And to make it all better, he'd gotten permission to use as much force as necessary, as long as the insects weren't killed. He could make this girl pay for his misery. He intended to do just that.

Max's POV

When our hands and feet were tied, they threw us against the base of a tree. Literally. A scar-covered eraser stepped out of one of the tents. I recognized him from before. He was the eraser that had kidnapped me when I had gotten upset over Fang. Or at least who I thought had been Fang. He looked like he had a bone to pick with me. Uh-oh. This doesn't look like it's going to end well.

"Hello, Max," he said loathingly.

"S'sup, Scarface?" I replied. He frowned and continued.

"I don't think you realize what you've done to me, Max. I've been tortured time and time again because of you. Now," he turned to me and gave me a devilish grin. "It's my turn."

Chief put his hand on my throat and held me up against a tree. Dylan tried to help but was held back by other erasers. Chief punched me in the stomach. He sure liked doing that. The crowd of erasers cheered and one ran up and picked me up, holding me for Chief's next blow. Chief landed a spinning kick to my face, causing my nose to bleed.

"Stop it!" Dylan yelled, struggling helplessly against his eraser. "She can't even stand! Can't you see she's had enough?"

"You just shut up and let me decide when she's had enough!" Chief yelled. Then he took me from the eraser who was holding me and smashed my head against a tree, causing me to black out.


	41. Chapter 41

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When I woke up, I was in the worst place in the world: a dog crate. I curled up in a ball in the corner and cried. Everything smelled of antiseptic. The lights were off so I couldn't see a thing. It was terrible.

"Max?" said a voice next to me. Dylan.

"Hi," I choked out. We stuck our fingers through the bars so they just touched. It made me feel a little better. I closed my eyes ant tried to imagine being back in Colorado.

Caroline's POV

An eraser came in and opened Caroline's cage. She backed up, but it still grabbed her and dragged her into a lab room where she got strapped to a table. Two whitecoats came in, discussing their experiment.

"I think that it's ready for the serum." one said. "It's proven positive in all the other tests. It's ready. We should test."

"Oh, alright, we'll test. Grab serum 2-B.," said the second one. He walked over to me and swabbed my forearm, prepping for another injection. The other came back with a syringe filled with blue liquid. He plunged it into Caroline's arm and she screamed.

Fang's POV

Fang had spent the last three hours getting twitchier by the second on an airplane to New York City. They found the Institute and were in the sewer, trying to open the door. Fang stepped in front and took out one of Iggy's lock-picking kits. In about five minutes, they were in. They rushed trough the hallways, stopping at a room labeled SUBJECT HOLD. The opened the door and flicked on the light. There on the right, was an unconscious Caroline. Right next to Max and Dylan. Fang froze. Behind him, Matt grabbed the key ring off the wall and started to unlock Caroline's cage. He took no notice of Fang and Max's gaze locked on each other. Matt pulled Caroline out and held her in his arms carefully. Fang snapped out of it and took the keys from Matt. He went over to Max's cage and unlocked it. Then he reluctantly unlocked Dylan's. He opened the cage doors and they all ran through the building. They ran into a few erasers, but beat them very quickly. They burst through the front doors and took off running. They stopped in a clearing when they were a safe distance away. They sat down, tired, and each found a spot to sleep. Max sat down on one side, but Dylan surprisingly didn't sit down next to her. Jake and Hayley fell asleep next to each other.

Matt's POV

Matt didn't want to leave Caroline, so he lay down and wrapped his arms around her waist, his head next to hers.


	42. Chapter 42

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I stayed quiet the entire time. I was mostly in shock. This was the real Fang. It had to be, right? He had been collecting his own flock. I was so glad Fang unlocked my cage and got me out of that horrible nightmare. He still was at least my friend. Maybe he still even loved-

Slow down, Max! I thought to myself. He left you. You don't have any more feelings for him. You like Dylan.

I closed my eyes in frustration. Liking Dylan all of a sudden felt like a chore. I settled myself and decided to solve this in the morning. Now was time to sleep.

Caroline's POV

The next morning, Caroline woke up to discover that she as in a clearing with her flock and two new people. The guy was positively gorgeous with his blonde hair and perfect... everything. The girl also had blonde hair, though curly. She had kept a dangerous expression on her face, even in sleep. It took Caroline a moment to realize that she was confined. She turned her head to see Matt. He was holding her around the waist and was still sleeping. His eyes fluttered open and met hers as she turned around.

"You're awake," he whispered. Then he pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're okay," he whispered in my ear.

Um, Matt?" I said. He pulled away just enough so their eyes met again. "Is there a reason that you're most concerned here..."

"Sorry," he said. "I never got the chance to tell you. The truth is, I love you, Caroline. I felt this way from the moment I saw you. But if you don't feel the same way, I get it-,"

Caroline stopped his rambling by pressing her lips to his. She wrapped her arms around him and whispered, "Is this a good answer?"

Matt smiled and they sat up. "Yes."

Max's POV

When I woke up, all but the two redhead kids where up. I got up and walked over to the fire where everyone else was sitting. I sat across from Fang, next to Dylan.

"So, where to next, guys?" Dylan asked, not addressing anyone in particular.

"Well, they could come back to Colorado with us," I surprised myself by saying.

"I think we could do that. Are you sure that's okay?" Fang asked.

"Yeah, it's fine," I said.

"Well then it's settled. When Jake and Hayley wake up, we'll head to Colorado."

And that's how things get awkward.


	43. Chapter 43

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It was really awkward to be around Fang. I wasn't sure why, but I didn't want to completely show Fang about Dylan and me. It just didn't seem right. Why in the world did I feel this way? Don't answer that. It just felt wrong to try to kiss Dylan in front of him. That's it. It just felt wrong. But it shouldn't. Why in the world does it, then? It was making me so uneasy.

Hayley's POV

Hayley woke up and saw something that surprised her. Caroline was sitting next to Matt by the fire, smiling. Matt had his arm around her shoulders and he was looking at her with a certain warmth his eyes that seemed vaguely familiar to her. She smiled as she watch Caroline laugh and kiss Matt's neck. He smiled and kissed her back. Hayley felt happy for Caroline.

Hayley rolled over to her left and caught her breath when she found herself face with Jake. Jake's nose twitched and he opened his eyes. Hayley looked into his lavender eyes and saw the same warmth in Matt's eyes and scorned herself for not realizing it before. Jake was in love with her. There was no other way to put it. It took her about a half-second to realize that she felt the same way.

Jake's POV

Jake saw the understanding in Hayley's eyes and knew that she knew. Better yet, she felt the same way. Jake smiled and Hayley confirmed his thoughts with a nod. Without a word spoken, Jake felt like his word had just turned to paradise. He slid his hand onto the right side of Hayley's face and gently pulled her into a kiss. They sat up and went to go join the others.

Max's POV

I saw Jake and Hayley walk over and sit down to join the conversation. In about fifteen minutes, I gathered the following information:

Fang wasn't dating either of these girls, even though they were the same age. Not that I cared, anyway.

Matt and Caroline were together.

So were Hayley and Jake.

The fact that Fang wasn't with anyone oddly made me feel a bit relaxed. I told myself that it shouldn't matter because I was with Dylan.

"Guys," I said. "I think it's time to hit the sky. Or, whatever it is that you guys are going to travel over. What is that by the way?"

"Well, I'm a wolf along with Jake," Matt said. I immediately tensed when he added. "Not like an eraser, though."

"We're bears," said Hayley.

"Really?" I said. I'd never seen them experiment with bears before.

"Last time I checked," said Caroline. She morphed in response.

Caroline's POV

Caroline morphed to show Max. As soon as she did, everyone gasped. She cocked he head in question.

"Looks like you haven't checked in a while," said Jake.


	44. Chapter 44

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"Caroline," Matt said. "This is- is amazing! You're a jaguar!"

Caroline morphed back into human form "Seriously?"

"Yeah, but I thought you were a bear," Fang put in. I thought the jaguar was good, because then she could keep up with us on the ground. Not as convenient as wings, but getting there.

"I did, too," Caroline said. She looked at her palm and closed her eyes. Her hand rippled and changed into a bear paw, complete with sharp claws. "I guess I'm... both." she finished and looked up.

"I've never heard of that," I said. "But it sounds possible. When we get back to Colorado, we'll talk to Jeb about this."

"Yeah," said Fang. "We should start going, anyway. You guys follow us on the ground."

I nodded in agreement and took to the sky, feeling the rush of the wind under my feathers. I was followed by Fang and Dylan.

We flew in silence for about eight hours when Dylan started getting shaky, and it was making me a bit nervous. "Maybe we should stop," I suggested. Fang raised one eyebrow when he saw Dylan panting hard, trying to keep up. Fang nodded and angled down. Dylan and I followed and we caught up with the others.

We made a small campfire and ate what we could find. I sat between Fang and Dylan. Hayley sat on Jakes lap while Caroline sat on Matt's, and we laughed and told old stories about the flock to them. Everything was going great. It almost felt normal again. And, of course, that's when things take a turn.

Caroline was telling us about the time when Hayley climbed a tree and went so high that she go stuck. We all started laughing when Fang put his arms around me, tilted my head and kissed me. He let go of me, and when everyone saw the look on my face, there was dead silence. I was glaring at Fang. Dylan started to talk, but I turned my head and he immediately closed his mouth.

I got up, gave Fang another deadly look, and walked out of the clearing, leaving everyone in silence.


	45. Chapter 45

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I kept walking until I reached another clearing. I sat down and cried. This time it wasn't because I missed Fang like every other time. This time it was because I didn't know what to do. I, Maximum Ride, the toughest of the tough, the oh-so-strong flock leader, had absolutely no idea how to deal with my social life. I sat there for about half an hour. By then, I started to calm down. When I had reduced my crying to a minimum, I got up and looked around. What I saw nearly gave me a heart attack. Fang materialized right in front of me.

"Max, can we pl-," Fang started, but I cut him off.

"I don't want to do this right now, Fang," I said.

"Max, just-"

"Can't you see it, Fang? I can do this anymore! You'll just run off again," the tears came back to my eyes.

"Max, I'm sorry, but-"

"What? I'm sorry but I just can't anymore! I can't risk loosing you again. There's nothing you can say or do to change my mind," I went to the edge of the clearing and was about to take off when he shouted.

"Max, I love you!"

I turned my head to look at him and replied, tears rolling down my face. "Like I haven't heard that one before," and took off into the midnight sky.


	46. Chapter 46

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I looked up into the pink sunset sky. I had just walked away from Fang, the one who I'd cried over, wanting with all my life for him to come back and have his strong arms wrapped around me, protecting me from my fears. I looked around. I was at the cliff. As in _the_ cliff. The one where I'd experienced everything from heartbreak to joy. The place where my worst nightmares and wildest daydreams have taken place. The cliff. Another tear rolled down my cheek, adding itself to my wet face. I wiped my eyes, yet again, and got up. Just as I was about to decide where to go, I felt someone sneaking up on me. I whipped around only to see the plain cliff side. I whipped around again, suddenly much more alert. Someone was trying to ambush me. I turned a third time only to over-rotate and trip, hitting my head and blacking out.

Caroline's POV

"Please! No! I'll do anything! Just no more," Caroline begged the whitecoats. She was at the School, trying to convince the whitecoats not to put her back in the maze.

"Fine," said the one carrying the clipboard. "Let's give it a rest for the day. Have it start again tomorrow. Bring it to the testing lab."

It. That's what she was to them. It. They carried her into the testing lab where they strapped her to a metal table and cut part of the back of her shirt. The whitecoat pressed a white-hot metal rod to her back. She screamed in pain.

Caroline woke up screaming in a clearing with Hayley and Jake opposite her and Matt right to her right. Matt shot up, completely alert. "What's wrong?" he said, searching for her hand.

"It-it's just a nightmare-," Caroline stuttered, but burst into tears. Matt wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. She put her head on his chest and continued to cry. Matt rubbed her back and whispered in her ear.

"It's okay."

Fang's POV

Fang circled Max on the cliff and lightly landed behind her. He turned invisible, but Max still sensed him. She swiftly got to her feet and whipped around to see who was there. Fang was about to go forward when he saw Max fall and hit her head on the hard ground, blacking out.

Author's Note: This is the 8th Maximum Ride book. The 7th one, ANGEL (or at least my version) is on my blog. So if you don't fully get this, refer to that.


	47. Chapter 47

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"Max! Max!" I opened my eyes to this goth kid over me, yelling for someone named Max.

"Hey, can you cut it out? Who the heck is Max, anyway?" I replied. The kid's eyes grew wider.

"What?"

"I think you heard me. Now WHO ARE YOU?" I said. "And can you gimme a little room, please?" The kid got up and then held out a hand for me. I let him held me up and I dusted myself off a bit. "Now who are you and who's Max?" I demanded again.

"Max," He stuttered. "It's me, Fang."

"You have two names?" I questioned, confused.

"No, you're Max, and I'm Fang."

"What kind of name is Fang?"

He raised one eyebrow. "You really don't remember?" I shook my head "Oh, you like it very much, as I recall," he replied knowingly.

Fang's POV

She really didn't remember. She must have gotten amnesia when she hit her head. Fang was about to explain her life story to her, no matter how long the gruesome story would take. He would do anything for Max. But he was also so desperate to get her back. Fang made a quick decision to just tell the story a little differently.

"Max, you're in love with me. And me with you," her eyes grew a bit wider.

Max's POV

"Seriously! No way. We're, like, complete opposites!"

"Well, opposites attract."

"And my name isn't Max."

"Well, what is it then?" I stopped. I didn't remember my own name. How could I for get that? The harder I tried to remember, the worse the back of my head hurt.

"Ow," I said and rubbed the back of my head. Suddenly my vision snapped out of focus and I fell again. Fang was there just in time and he caught me.

"We need to get you home. Do you think you can fly?" I looked at him, waiting for him to say he was joking, but he was dead serious.

"Fly! Why in the world do you think I could fly!" I shrieked. Fang stepped back and rolled his shoulders. Big black wings, about fifteen feet long, unfurled from his back. They were beautiful. "Wow."

"You've got 'em, too," he said. I closed my eyes and focused. When I opened them, I had fifteen-foot, tan speckled wings. I stared in awe. I could fly!

"Now come on. Let's get you back. Follow me."


	48. Chapter 48

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I don't know why, but I decided to go with the creepy goth kid. "I don't know how to fly."

"Oh, yeah," Fang said. "Here. Just... watch me," He flapped his wings and did a beautiful takeoff. How did he do that? I tried when I was still over the cliff, but I ended up back on the ground. "Here, angle your wings a bit differently."

I tried once again and this time took off into the beautiful sky. "I'm flying!" I shouted back to Fang. He took off after me just as I started to fall straight down.

"Max!" He shouted as he shot towards me. He caught me a few yards above the ground and then landed gently. I started laughing and he followed me. He put his hand into my wind-tossed hair and pulled me closer. He kissed me and my hand went to his hair. We broke apart and started to laugh again.

"Come on," he said. "Let's get back to the others."

"Others?"

"Yeah. Other mutants. They're really nice. Well, most of them."

I gave Fang a quizzical look but he didn't respond. We took off to the sky and flew over a forest.

"I left them around here!" Fang yelled over the wind. "We should be there soon!"

Fang started to descend and I followed. Fang's face went sheet white when we landed in an empty clearing. "What's wrong?" I asked, suddenly nervous. Fang walked over to a tree where a note was hanging, held up by a single bloody knife. "Fang, what's wrong?"

He took the note off the tree and read it, his face remaining eerily pale. "They're gone. They've been taken. I can't believe it. It's my fault."

Fang sat down on the ground and put his head in his hands, looking close to tears. He handed me the note and I read the messy handwriting.

This is what happens when you disobey me. You should have joined me when you had the chance. I'll give you one last chance. You'll take it, if you ever want to see them again.

-Dr. Hans Gunther-Hagen

"What is this?" I asked. "Who was taken?"

Fang looked up at me with sad eyes. "My family. And yours, too."

"How do we get them back?"

"First we should go back to the rest of the family. Let's go."

We flew for about three hours until we reacted a house on the edge of a canyon in Colorado. We flew onto the front porch and I felt something weird nagging me in the back of my head. Some kind of connection I was supposed to have, but I just couldn't figure it out. The door was locked so we had to knock. Fang didn't look too happy about it. He looked...uneasy. Like he was almost afraid to go inside the house. We heard someone come towards the door and then run back.

I heard the voice of a little boy, I was guessing around eight, yelling "Guys! It's FANG!" Then I heard more subtle voices and a Hispanic woman with dark hair opened the door. She froze when she saw us. Behind her, I could see four kids and a dog all looking at us. The woman shook her head to get out of her shock and let us in.

"I need a flock meeting," Fang said immediately after we walked in the door. Everyone sat down in the living room and I joined them. Fang took a deep breath and started. "Guys, Max doesn't remember you."

Everyone burst out in protest but Fang glared at them and they quieted down.

A tall, orange-haired kid said, "Well, do you know what happened?"

"Iggy, I know this is hard to believe, but the whitecoats didn't do this. It's partially, um, my... fault?"

Apparently Iggy didn't like that. He jumped up and punched Fang in the stomach. Fang almost fell over. When he recovered, he said, "Well, I just startled Max a bit, and she, uh, sort of, well, fell. And, um, hit her head?" after a silent pause, Fang blurted out "I didn't mean to!"

"She seriously doesn't remember?" said a boy, about eight, with blonde spiky hair. Fang shook his head. "Well you've gotta remember the water balloon fight and the Wendy K."

I shook my head. Suddenly everyone was around me, telling me memories that I apparently went through. I looked to Fang for help.

"Sure, Fang," the little boy said. "Of course she remembers you."

Fang glared at him. "Shut up, Gazzy."

The little girl's voice rose over everyone else. "Well, you have to remember what Fang did to you."

Fang looked like he was about to kill her. She immediately went pale. "Guys!" Fang shouted. "I need your help. I've got a flock too now, and they've been captured. I need your help."

Everyone went silent. I guess Fang didn't ask for help much. Then Fang held his fist out in front of him. "Who's with me?"

Slowly, Gazzy put his hand on top of Fang's. Iggy was the next to follow. Then the thirteen-year-old girl and the little girl. Finally, I did the same.

"Now go pack," said Fang and they all ran to the hallway. "Come on. I'll show you your room."

He walked me down the hallway and up the stairs. We stopped at a door in the middle of the hallway and Fang opened it. "I'll be down the hall," he said and closed the door behind him.

Fang's POV

Fang headed down the hall when he saw Dr. Martinez. She grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. Since she was Max's mom, he didn't do anything. She pushed him against the wall and glared at him. "Listen," she said, anger giving her voice an edge. "I don't know why you came back but stay away from Max. She was heartbroken when you left. Do you have any idea what you did to that poor girl? Like she doesn't have enough to worry about! If you do anything that could hurt her, anything, I will kill you."

Fang swallowed and choked out a few words. "Yes, Dr. Martinez."


	49. Chapter 49

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Fang's POV

Fang walked to his room and put his head in his hand. What should he do? He started pacing. This was his chance to start over with Max, but Dr. Martinez promised to kill him if he didn't stay away. But how often does he get a chance like this to start over? Then again, it could backfire. He doubted that; it was foolproof. But Dr. Martinez. Something told Fang that she did have he ability to kill him. But Max. She didn't remember anything. That includes her second nature for defense and fighting. She needed to be protected. And Fang should be the one to do just that. He's the most willing to loose his life for Max's. It wasn't fair. Nothing in his life could be easy, could it? He flopped down on his bed and sighed.

Max's POV

I picked up a small, black, worn out backpack form the end of my bed. I put a few extra pairs of clothes in it and then zipped it up. I didn't really see the need or know what else to pack. I figured I'd use the extra space for food. I sat down on the bed and looked out the window. After a minute, Fang poked his shaggy head in the room.

"Hi," he said as he walked over and sat down next to me. He kissed the top of my head and put his arm around me.

"Hey, Fang?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering," I said skeptically. "What was Angel talking about when she said you did something to me?" Fang shifted uncomfortably and scratched the back of his head. Oh, God. "Fang, What did you do?" I said more seriously. "Did you..," I edged away from him.

"No! No, Max. I'd never.. Plus I'd never tell a seven-year-old that. I promise."

"Okay," I said. He pulled me closer and kissed me. He lay down and I put my head on his chest and curled my arms around him. He tilted his head to kiss me. I leaned up to do the same.

When Fang and I were kissing, the door opened. Fang looked over my shoulder and then shot up off the bed and stood up straight.

"Dr. Martinez!" He said. The Hispanic woman was standing in the doorway. She was glaring at Fang with a deadly look and stormed away. Fang's face was sheet white as he collapsed to the floor and put his head in his hands.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"I wasn't supposed to be here with you."

"Why not. It doesn't seem like we really pay attention to the rules. Why is she any different?"

"She's your mom."

I could hear my jaw drop and I immediately closed my mouth. "My mom?"

Fang nodded. "And she said she'd kill me if I didn't stay away from you. And I think she meant it. I think I'd better get going, anyway. Bye."

He kissed the top of my head and left the room. Well, this just got complicated.


	50. Chapter 50

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I went downstairs into the kitchen and put some food into my backpack. I went into the living room to find everyone there. "We ready?" I asked. Everyone nodded and began to head for the door.

"Wait!" said my mom. We all stopped to listen. "I don't think Max should go with you guys," she said as she glared straight at Fang. "She doesn't have her memory, and that could put her in danger along with everyone else."

"Don't worry, doctor," Fang said. "I'll protect her."

"You better. Well, goodbye guys!" and with that, we all rushed out the door.

We jumped off the porch one by one and took off into the sky. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I had a feeling I'd find out real soon.

Fang came over and flew above me. I smiled and tried to cover the sound of my racing heart. "Hey," I said. He smiled and flew off. We kept flying and keeping lookout for about three hours.

"Fang? Where are we going?" the around-twelve-year-old girl asked.

"They were taken to the School, Nudge. In Arizona," Fang replied.

Caroline's POV

"We have to find a way out of here," Caroline said. "That's, what? Our twelfth round of needles today?"

"Thirteenth," Jake corrected.

"If I come out of here and I'm not a wolf, I'm gonna be so ticked off..." Matt grumbled.

"I agree with Caroline. We have to find a way out of here," Hayley said. "And soon."

Scientist's POV

The head peered over his assistants shoulder and looked at the computer. "It looks like the female subject number 21, is most stable. Yet it's been grafted with multiple DNA structures. Let's see how it reacts with one more."

"Yes sir," the assistant agreed, although he didn't like the idea. He knew that the results could be catastrophic, but he also knew that the lab head would never listen to him. He sighed and called for lab room E to be prepped.


	51. Chapter 51

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After about an hour more of flying, it started to get dark. We flew down into a tree and each took a branch to sleep on for the night.

"Fang?" the little eight-ish boy asked. "Yeah Gazzy?"

"Well, I was wondering, where are they?" Gazzy asked.

"Who?"

"Your, other flock. Are they at the School or the Institute?"

"Their in the school, kiddo. I'm sorry that we have to go back."

Gazzy nodded and settled into his tree branch and started to fall asleep along with everyone else. Fang turned to me. "You should get some sleep. I'll take watch. Don't worry."

I smiled to him and fell asleep.

Hayley's POV

Everyone was talking about the shots when two erasers came in. They immediately got silent and backed to the corners of their cages. The erasers gave devilish grinned that almost promised death, or worse. "We're here for subject 21. That's you," the eraser said and started towards Caroline. She backed further into her cage, but it was no use. The eraser opened the cage door and grabbed the neck of her shirt, dragging her out. "I don't know why, but you've been chosen for special testing. Come on."

The erasers each grabbed Caroline's shoulders and brought her out of the room. As she was leaving, she turned her head and Hayley saw one last glimpse of her face before she left the room. The look in her eyes, pure fear.

Max's POV

When I woke up Fang as the only other one up. "Did you stay up the whole night?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "Nope. Ig and I switched off with watch."

I nodded back and started to wake the others. "Come on guys. Up and at 'em. We've got a rescue mission."

After I successfully got everyone up and we ate some of what was in our backpacks, we hit the sky. To the School, we go.

Caroline's POV

The erasers took Caroline up a flight of stairs and to a lab room. They strapped her to a metal table and cleaned her arm, prepping it for another injection. Two whitecoats came in, discussing some kind of science. It took Caroline only a few seconds to determine that the 'science' that they were discussing was her. "I'm telling you, doctor. Injecting subject 21 with another string of DNA could have catastrophic results!"

The other whitecoat just waved his assistant away. "Don't worry, Riley. The lupine DNA is stable enough to not upset the subject's structural balance."

"But sir! The tests-,"

"I said not to worry, Riley! I know what I'm doing! Now go back to the office."

Riley scurried out of the room, leaving the other whitecoat in the room. He took a syringe from his pocket and prepped it. "Now," he said. "Hold still and it won't hurt as much."

The whitecoat plunged the needle into Caroline's arm and she let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Matt's POV

About five or ten minutes after Caroline left, Matt heard a terrible scream. He immediately slammed against the metal bars of his cage. "Let me out!" he yelled.

"Matt! Settle down! They'll come in here!" Jake warned.

"Good! Because I need to be out there!"

"Matt, listen-"

"No Jake, you listen. I know you understand! What if it was Hayley out there, huh? Would you be so calm?" Matt snapped. Jake immediately shut up and looked at Hayley.

"I'm sorry. We'll find a way to help her, I promise."


	52. Chapter 52

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We flew for about a half an hour before we caught sight of the School in the middle of the barren California desert. We were ready to charge the doors or sneak in undetected. We were ready to fight our way through erasers to get Fang's flock back. But when I looked closer at the School, I started to think that none of that might be necessary.

Matt's POV (the morning before Max's previous recalls aka: that morning)

When the erasers too Caroline away last night, she hadn't returned. Matt had been seriously concerned, but calmed down enough to let the others get some sleep. Now they were ready to go through with their plan. Three erasers came in to take them to the days torture. Time for a prison breakout.

The erasers unlocked their cages and pulled them out. The erasers quickly grabbed their hands and were about to bring them outside when Matt shouted "Now!" and everyone sprang into action. They broke free of the stunned erasers' grips and quickly knocked them out. Matt raced down the hallway, followed closely by Hayley and Jake. They ran up the stairs and found an operation room in the hallway with a black letter "E" on the door. Matt ran in and immediately raced over to Caroline, who was strapped to an operation table in the middle of the room. She had just woken up when he came in.

"Matt?" she said, immediately alert. "What's going on?"

"We're getting out of here," Matt explained as he finished unstrapping her. "I'm so glad you're safe," Matt whispered. He picked her up and kissed her. They ran out into the hallway where Hayley and Jake were keeping watch, just as planned. Now here was where the plan ended. Time to wing the hardest and most crucial part: getting home.

They all raced down to the first floor. At the door to the main office, they all pressed against the wall and Matt pressed his fingers to his lips, signaling to the others. He peeked in the window and saw a desk with a computer and a bunch of papers on it. Behind the desk was a rack with keys hanging on it. There were two erasers in the room. They could take them. Matt mouthed to the others, "on three". Then he held up three fingers. Two... One! They burst into the office and Caroline, Jake, and Hayley took to the erasers while Matt jumped up and slid over the counter, grabbing a set of black keys off the board. He quickly jumped back over the counter, took a spinning kick and knocked out the last eraser. "Let's rock!" He shouted and they ran out just as the alarms went off.

They ran to the parking lot directly on their right and Matt clicked the key. Matt smiled to himself as a brand new midnight black corvette chirped in response. They all hopped over the doors and sat down, not bothering with seat belts. Matt jammed the keys into the ignition and started the car. He swerved out of the parking lot and stopped. Erasers started to come out of the front entrance.

"Do you even know how to drive a car!" Caroline yelled frantically from the seat next to him.

"No!" he screamed back. Matt slammed on the gas and the car flew at about 120 mph. Hayley and Jake screamed from the back seat and held each other for dear life. Good choice. Caroline held onto the handle on the inside of the car door. Her mouth was shut tight and her eyes were wide. She wasn't much of a screamer. She almost looked relaxed.

In about three minutes, which felt like three seconds, they neared a forest. "Alright," Matt yelled over the wind. "Get ready to jump!" In three seconds, Matt jerked the wheel violently to the right, causing the car to do the same and almost tip over. Matt hit the breaks and everyone jumped out and ran into the forest.

They reached a clearing and thought they were safe until they heard rustling. Immediately, they shot up and went back-to-back. A blonde girl dropped down from the trees, immediately followed by Fang. They all relaxed.

Max's POV

What I saw was Fang's flock speeding away from the School. When they got to the forest, Fang and I dropped in, followed by the rest of the flock.

When Fang's flock relaxed, Fang smiled. "Matt, do you even know how to drive a car?" he asked.

The dark haired boy, about my age, smiled sheepishly. "I figured, you know, just floor it."

Fang shook his head and turned to us. "Guys, this is Matt, Caroline, Hayley, and Jake," There were moderate 'hello's from my flock and we all started talking.


	53. Chapter 53

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Fang introduced us to his flock and Matt quickly told the story of the breakout.

"Matt, don't be modest! You orchestrated the whole thing!" Jake said.

"Well, not-"

"Yes he did! And he thought to use the Corvette!" Jake cut him off.

"Well," Fang said. "Whether Matt wants to take credit or not, I think it was great."

We were interrupted by footsteps in the trees. Fang and I shot up and both did three-sixties. Two erasers jumped into the clearing. "Dylan!" Fang shouted. "Take Max's flock and GO!"

A blonde kid who I hadn't noticed before took my flock and left. We all got into fighting stances. "Nobody move!" one eraser shouted and they both pulled out pistols. One eraser trained his gun on Caroline and the other on me. Everyone froze. In a split second, Fang moved in front of me and everyone jumped on the erasers. I was pushed back into a tree and everything became a big blur. I heard two gunshots and everything cleared. My heart stopped at what I saw.

The two erasers were dead, but the bullets hadn't hit them. "Fang!" I shouted and ran towards where he lay. He had gotten one of the bullets in his side and was bleeding terribly.

He took my hand. "Max, are you okay?" he asked.

"Fang, you got shot! Oh, God."

"Are you okay?" he repeated.

"I'm fine! Oh, God. We need to get you to a hospital."

Jake's POV

When the erasers were dead Jake looked around and almost fell there on the spot. He'd heard the bullets, but didn't expect this. "Hayley!" he shouted and ran to where Hayley lay in a poll of blood coming from here shoulder where she'd been shot. He grabbed the hand of her good arm tightly.

"Don't worry. I'll be." Hayley didn't get to finish. Her eyes closed and her grip on Jake's hand loosened. He could just feel her heart beat faintly.

"Hayley," Jake said as tears formed in his eyes. "We need to get to a hospital!"

Matt's POV

Matt looked around. Fang was on the ground bleeding with Max over him, looking distraught. The same thing was for Hayley and Jake. Matt was afraid to look at Caroline. Afraid to see what he would find. But he wasn't a coward. He looked up and was relieved to see that at least she wasn't shot. Blood was all over her jaw and she was bleeding out of her mouth. She had a hand on her heart and her other arm around her stomach. Matt went over to her. "What's wrong?" he said trying not to panic.

"I'm fi-" she said just before she passed out. Matt caught her before she fell.

"Caroline!" he said. "We need to go to a hospital! Come on!" Matt carried Caroline to the car, followed by the others carrying their loved ones. Matt put Caroline in the passenger seat and hopped behind the wheel. Everyone else got in the back and Matt floored towards the nearest town.

In about ten minutes going at 150 mph, the reached a hospital and ran in. All the nurses turned to see six bloody and beat up teenagers, half of them critically injured.

"Someone help!" Matt shouted and a few techs came with gurneys. They took Hayley, Fang, and Caroline off to an operating room. It took Matt everything he had not to run after them.

Unfortunately, Jake had gotten worse. He snapped and tried to run after Hayley, almost morphing in the process. Matt tackled him and had to pin him down on the middle of the emergency room just to stop him. "Get off me!" he growled

"You can't follow her," Matt replied. He got off Jake and helped him up. When Jake got up, he tried to run again. Matt slammed Jake's chest and hit him into a wall. "You need to stay here!"

Eventually, Matt got Jake to sit down. A nurse came out and asked if they could come with her to the operating room. Matt nodded speechlessly.


	54. Chapter 54

54

A nurse came out and called us into a hospital room. We followed her as she led us to a room with Hayley, Fang, and Caroline each asleep in a hospital bed. I was antsy enough with the smell, so it almost put me over the edge that I couldn't talk to Fang. I have no idea why the antiseptic smell made me freak out. We all automatically went to their bedsides and held their hands. Jake went to Hayley, I went to Fang, and Matt went to Caroline.

"Um, miss?" the nurse said. I looked up from Fang. "Are you, like him?"

I nodded.

"Good. We need blood. Are you two, like them?"

I saw the blood drain from the boys' faces. They both shook their heads.

"Hm. Well, that might be a problem with this one," she pointed to Hayley and Jake almost started to shake.

"Well, we aren't completely the same but were both... different," Jake said.

"What are you?"

"Wolf."

"That could work."

Jake relaxed a bit and held out his arm.

"Okay, you two. I'll be right back with the equipment and you're going to have to get some blood drawn."

The nurse walked out of the room. I started to look at Fang and actually see him. I knew I probably shouldn't have, but I needed to know. I slowly pulled down the sheets until his torso was visible. I gasped and put my hand to my mouth. Although there was gauze, they were soaked in blood. I don't know what brought me to do this, but I did. I slowly took off the gauze and looked at the wound. I almost fainted.

Fang had a giant hole in his side. It wasn't like a normal bullet hole. It was much bigger, like the bullet had been rigged. I pulled the gauze back over it and squeezed Fang's hand. I looked at his face, wishing that his forever-staring eyes could see me, too. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to erase the pictures of the wound from my mind.

Jake's POV

Jake looked down at Hayley as he gripped her hand tightly. She looked up at him with worn out eyes. He squeezed her had tighter as he thought of the situation. He could lose her right now. She wouldn't know.

The doctor walked up to the two of them with a needle and syringe. He looked like he was a supermodel yesterday and just decided to put on a lab coat for fun. The doctor noticed that Jake looked nervous, and said, "Trust me, I'm a doctor."

That made Jake even more uneasy, but he let him draw blood without freaking out.

Max's POV

A different doctor had come in and drawn blood from me and already injected it into Fang. He was awake now. The doctor went over to Jake and took blood from him. He injected it into Hayley. After a few minutes, she woke up, too. The doctor was about to walk out when Matt spoke up. "But what about Caroline?" I could hear that he was trying to keep his voice steady, but it still shook a bit. I felt bad for him.

Matt's POV

"Ah," said the doctor. "Well, she had a heart attack. It was caused by an overload of different DNA strings grafted to her. Subject 21 failed."

Matt was about to just nod and suck it up when the doctor said 'subject 21'. "Eraser!" Matt shouted. He quickly saw the doctor take something out of his pocket. "And he's got a bomb!"

Max's POV

The eraser flicked a switch on the bomb and dropped it while running out of the room. As the bomb exploded, Fang tackled me, shielding me from the bomb. We got up and knew we needed to leave. Fast. "Come on!" I yelled and Fang and I started running out the door. Matt ran pretty fast while carrying Caroline. Hayley ran while gripping Jake's arm. We ran out and hopped back in the Corvette. Matt started driving and in moments we were in the California desert. It wasn't until then did I notice Fang. "Oh my God! Fang!"

Fang's back was burned from protecting me from the bomb. "Max, it's okay. We'll go home and get help."

"But Fang-"

"I'm okay."

I nodded but was still concerned.

After about four hours of driving at 200 mph, we reached home. We drove up and got out of the car. I flew up to the porch and ran inside. "Dr. Martinez! Guys! Somebody help!" Everybody came running down the stairs.

"Max! What's wrong?" my mom asked.

"Come quick!" I ran outside and flew of the porch. My mom came down the ladder and everyone else followed me. I ran to the car where Fang was.

"Max, please. I'm fine," Fang protested.

"No you aren't! You got shot and burned! That is not fine!"

"What?" my mom said. "Come inside, quick. All of you."

Everyone went inside and Mom took Fang to his room to try to help him. He kept protesting, but my mom glared at him. Matt sat down on the couch and put Caroline on his lap. He looked close to tears. Jake helped Hayley to the couch and sat down with her. Matt looked at me with sad and pleading eyes. "Mom, wait!" My mom stopped trying to bring Fang upstairs to listen. "Fang isn't the only one hurt."

I motioned to the couch. My mom saw Matt holding Caroline. Then she saw Hayley look almost ashamed as Jake pulled down the shoulder of her shirt, revealing her gunshot wound.

"Oh my. Bring them up, too."

We took the wounded up to Fang's room which turned into a hospital. I barely noticed a man walk in and start to look over Caroline's unresponsive body while Matt watched anxiously.

"Thank you, Jeb," my mom told the man.

In the next hour, stitches were given to Fang and Hayley, my mom treated Fang's burns, and Caroline still hadn't woken up. When my mom took the gauze off Hayley's shoulder, Jake, already lightheaded from the blood donation, passed out at the sight of the wound.

When the time came to make sleeping arrangements, the girls ended up in my room and the boys in Fang's. Hayley and I slept in the bed while Caroline was put by the window. After the long and terrible day, I allowed myself to slip into a deep sleep.


	55. Chapter 55

55

I woke up the next morning and saw that it was about 6:30. I was the only one up in the room, so I got dressed and went downstairs. In the next hour, everyone was up except, of course, Caroline. Jeb was up, but he was still in his room.

We were all sitting around the living room when Jeb ran in. "I've got it! I've got it!" he shouted. All heads turned towards him as he continued. "I found out what's wrong with Caroline! Better yet, I think I made an antidote!" he held up a syringe.

Matt shot up. "Well, then what are we waiting for!" he shouted and ran upstairs. Everyone followed and crowded into my room. Jeb injected the needle into Caroline's arm. At first, nothing happened. But then Caroline turned over, coughing, and spit out a bit of blood. Matt pulled her into a tight embrace and she hugged back.

"I'm so glad your okay," Matt whispered into her ear.

"Why were you so concerned? I was only out for about an hour, right?" she replied.

"Caroline, you were unconscious for about a day."

"Seriously? Wow. It felt so short."

"Come on, guys," I said. "Give them some room."

I shooed everyone out and gave Matt and Caroline some privacy.

Caroline's POV

"I was seriously out for a day?"

Matt nodded.

"Wow. That's bazaar. What happened after I blacked out?"

Matt explained the eraser in the hospital and how hey got home.

"You saved me, yet again! I'd probably be dead right now without you."

"Don't talk like that," Matt said. "It scares me."

"I'm sorry."

Matt put his arms around Caroline's waist and pulled her closer. He kissed her on the neck.

Max's POV

Everything was looking better. Fang, Hayley, and Caroline were healing very well. No one got into any fights. Heck, even the weather seemed better! But you all know how it goes in my life.


	56. Chapter 56

11

The sun warmed my back as I soared through the sky. I was flying with my family around our house. Everyone except Fang. My mom made him stay inside along with Hayley and Caroline. And I can honestly say that he was _not_ happy about it. I watched as Matt and Jake were playing around and chasing each other below. It truly was a great day.

I landed and that blonde boy named Dylan came over to me. "Hey," he said.

"Hi," I replied.

"So you and Fang are back together," I nodded. "I'm surprised you'd forgive him, after he-"

"Max!" Gazzy yelled. "Come quick!"

"Come on," I told Dylan and ran over to Gazzy. Gazzy pegged me with a water balloon. "Oh it's on! Angel, Nudge! Water balloons!"

I saw Angel and Nudge's eyes light up. For the next two hours, we had an all-out, intense, boys vs. girls water balloon fight. About half an hour in, I found an unopened pack of 300 water balloons by the garden hose. That made the game a bit more interesting.

When we came inside soaking wet, my mom started to freak out. "What happened!"

"Mom, relax. Gazzy and Iggy just got hold of some water balloons," I replied. She giggled and spoke.

"Well, you guys go upstairs and get cleaned up. Dinner soon."

Fang came over to me. "I always miss the water balloons," he smiled. I gave him a big hug, which got him soaked. Then I bolted upstairs. I got changed and took a shower. When everyone was cleaned up, we sat down to a home cooked meal made by my mom. We all laughed and my mom wanted to know about the school escape, so we had Matt tell her.

When he was done, she said, "So that's why there's a Corvette outside?" Everyone started laughing again. It was a great evening on a great day. I thought that nothing could ruin this. But luck decided to leave me as I went upstairs.


	57. Chapter 57

57

I walked up to my room and shut the door behind me. I've had my room all to myself for a few days now. Nudge and Angel wanted the girls in their room, and they agreed. I just looked around the room and my gaze set on the nightstand next to my bed. I had another one of those impulse moments and I walked over to it. I opened the top drawer and saw a single folded slip of paper with my name on it. On top of the paper was a gold diamond ring. I had a sick sense of dread as I picked up the note. I began to read.

_Dear Max-_

_You looked so beautiful today. I'm going to remember what you looked like forever._

Everything. All of the memories of heartbreak and longing. Entire months of that came back to me all at once. I remembered it. And I wish I didn't. My heart just couldn't take it. I fell onto the floor the note and ring still in my hand, and I blacked out.

Hayley's POV

"Hey, Max?" Hayley said as she walked into Max's room. She stopped dead in her tracks as she saw where Max lay. She screamed and yelled, "Dr. Martinez! Something happened to Max!"

Dr. Martinez came running and gasped when she saw Max. She immediately checked her pulse. "Oh, God. Jeb!"

Jeb came running in. "Her pulse is faint," Dr. Martinez told him. Angel came running followed by the rest of the flock. "Does anyone know what happened?"

"I do," Angel spoke up. "She found the note and the ring that Fang gave her. And then the memories caught up with her."

That's when Fang ran in. "Max," he whispered. He saw the note and ring and his face became sad. He bent down next to her and grabbed her wrist. Fang doubled over and screamed in agony, blacking out.

The room went deadly silent as the sound of Fang's scream echoed in the room. Jake squeezed Hayley's hand, making her feel a bit better. Dr. Martinez was the first person to snap out of it. "Matt, Iggy, bring Fang to his room. We need to separate them. Quickly!"

They did as she said and Jeb followed them. Dr. Martinez desperately tried to bring Max to consciousness, but nothing worked. Hayley buried her face in Jake's shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her. He led her out of the room and brought her to her own room. Caroline followed them out and went to the living room.

Dr. Martinez's POV

Finally, Dr. Martinez put Max in her bed and left the room. She didn't know what else she could do. It didn't make sense. Max was perfectly healthy and then all of a sudden she just dropped unconscious.

Jake's POV

Jake took Hayley to her room. She was traumatized from finding Max. Jake put her to bed and stayed there to comfort her. Eventually, they both fell asleep.


	58. Chapter 58

58

Fang's POV

Fang woke up the next morning in his room. He tried to recall last night. He remembered the fear of seeing Max on the floor and the dread that it was caused by the ring he gave her and the note he wrote her. _If that hurt Max and she won't be okay, I'll jump off a cliff with my wings tucked in,_ Fang vowed. The last thing he remembered was a horrible feeling of heartbreak and images of Max crying and terribly hurt flooding through his mind. The only one he remembered showed Max jumping off the cliff where they met with the hawks. The part that scared Fang the most was that Max had no intention of using her wings. Fang shook that out of his mind and got changed. He sat by his window and looked out for a while, trying to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided to go visit Max and see if she was okay.

Fang walked down the hallway and slowly opened Max's door. He bit his lip as he noticed that Max still hadn't woken up. _What if she isn't okay? What if she doesn't make it through this?_ Fang thought. He shook his head. He was just scaring himself. Max had to make it through this. She was his...Max. She was his Max.

Max's POV

Pain. The memories of the heartbreak came back to me. The nights of sitting by the window, crying and shouting his name. As the memories slowly eased into my entire life, I began to wake up. Just as I thought I had the strength to open my eyes, I heard my door open. I stayed perfectly still. I wasn't sure if I could move anyway. By the silent footsteps, I could tell that it was Fang. He sat down next to me on the bed and ran his hand through my hair. He began to speak.

"Max, I'm sorry," Fang said. "I'm sorry I left you, and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you when you lost your memory. I'm sorry that you found out this way. If I had just told you, maybe this wouldn't have happened. And I know you can't hear me now, but, the truth is, I left because I was scared. I was scared that I was going to die, and I didn't want you to have to go through that. I realize now that I was wrong, and I shouldn't have left you," Fang started to cry. I could hear it in his voice and I could hear him sniffle. "I'm still scared, Max. I'm sorry. Feel free to stop me any time, Max. Please, please wake up. Please just be okay."

As he talked, I could feel the strength come back to my body. I put my hand on his shoulder and he turned around and looked into my eyes. I could see the light twinkling in his deep midnight black eyes. "Max," he whispered. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me.

"I'm okay," I whispered in his ear.

"I'm so scared," he whispered and started crying again. I pulled him closer to me and he cried into my shoulder. After a few minutes, he stopped crying and pulled me onto his lap. "I'm sorry. I'm such a wuss."

"No, it's fine. You have every right to be scared."

"You heard me?"

"Every word."

"There's one thing I didn't say."

"And what's that?"

"That I'm unconditionally and uncontrollably in love with you," he said, making my blush. He pressed his lips to mine and I kissed back. We held each other and our foreheads touched. "I'm so glad you're okay."

He was about to kiss me again when the door opened and my mom walked in. We immediately broke apart and had a look on our faces that said _uh-oh._ My mom was _seriously_ mad.


	59. Chapter 59

59

"That's it! Fang, get out! And don't come back!" my mom screamed. I was about to protest when Fang said something unimaginable.

"Yes, Dr. Martinez. Right away."

"No!" I yelled and grabbed Fang's wrist. "Fang isn't going anywhere!"

"Yes he is. Fang gets it. He is a risk to you, Max. I just want to keep you safe," she said calmly.

"My _safety?_ Is that why you want Fang to leave? For your information, Fang has saved my life twice in the past 48 hours!"

She raised one eyebrow skeptically. "Oh, really? When?"

"The burn marks on his back were from him covering me from a bomb exploding! And the bullet wound was from him going in front of me when and eraser tried to shoot me! How the **** could he hurt me!"

"You know very well how he could hurt you."

"Mom! Fang would never and you know that!"

"I'm sorry, Max. I love you," Fang said. He hugged me one last time and kissed me goodbye. As he kissed me, he slipped something into my hand. I put it in my pocket so that my mom wouldn't see it. With one last longing look, Fang jumped out the window and spread his wings. Tears welled up in my eyes.

"Look at what you've done!" I lashed out. "He's _gone!_ You said you wanted to protect me from this? Well you just caused it! I just really had him back! How could you!" I sank to the floor and put my head in my hands. "I just got him back," I choked out.

"I'm sorry, Max, but-"

"No you're not! You're not _sorry!_ Get _out!_" I screamed. My mom gave me one pitiful look and walked out. "He's gone," I whispered.

After a few minutes, I dried my tears and looked to my right. My shoulder was still wet from Fang's tears. I reached into my pocket and pulled out what Fang gave me. It was a folded piece of paper with my name on it. I unfolded it and saw a note in Fang's scrawly handwriting. I read it.

_Meet me in the forest at 11:00 tonight._

_I love you._

_-Fang_

I put it back into my pocket and walked into the bathroom. I splashed my face with cold water until I felt a little better. I looked in the mirror and tried to make sense of what was going on. So my mom was afraid that Fang would take it too far? I knew Fang better than that and my mom knew that I'd never let him. There had to be another reason.

I got dressed and went downstairs. When I walked into the living room, Hayley ran up and hugged me. I could see Jake sitting on the couch smiling. "Nice to see you, too, Hayley," I said.

"Sorry," she replied and let go of me. "It's just that, it was kind of scary."

"What are you talking about?"

"I was the one that found you."

"Oh, God, Hayley. I'm sorry you had to see-"

"It's okay."

I smiled and sat down in the living room. Nudge sat down beside me. "Hi, Max! I'm glad your okay."

I gave her a hug. "Hey, where's Fang?" I immediately looked down. "Oh, Max. Again? I'm so sorry."

"I need some air," I said and walked out the door. I took off on the porch and just flew. After a bit I went into my room and waited out the rest of the day there.


	60. Chapter 60

60

At 10:55, I peeked down the hall and made sure that everyone was asleep. Then I went back to my room and slipped my window open. I jumped out and opened my wings. When I got far enough from the house, I whispered, "Fang?"

Behind me, I felt a current of air on my back and I looked up. I saw Fang flying over me, smiling. We landed in a clearing and I ran into his arms. "I missed you at the house," I said.

"I'm glad you came. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to sneak out."

"I managed. Come on. Follow me," I showed him the clearing where Dylan had kissed me. I didn't mention that, though. The place was just so beautiful. We walked around and discovered a really short path that led to a beautiful cliff. We sat there and talked for a while. Eventually we went back to the clearing and sat down. I ended up falling asleep in Fang's arms in the clearing. I woke up at around 6:00 and woke Fang.

"Fang, I have to go. It's 6:00. If I stay any longer, I'll get caught."

"Okay. I'll miss you. Same thing tonight?"

"I'll meet you here at 11:00," I said. I kissed him goodbye and flew back to the house. I flew in and closed my window. I got dressed and went downstairs. I ended up falling asleep on the couch and waking up at two o'clock. And I woke up just in time, too.

Gazzy was standing over me with a can of whipped cream and Iggy was next to him with one of his feathers in his hand. Gazzy sprayed the whipped cream in my hand. They thought I was still sleeping. Iggy tickled my face with the feather, but instead of what they expected, I shoved the whipped cream in Iggy's face. Gazzy burst out laughing and I flicked the remaining whipped cream at him.

"That's what you get for trying to fool Maximum Ride," I said and walked upstairs. I went to my room and washed my hands in the bathroom. I flopped down on my bed. I spent the rest of the day in my room, anticipating my night with Fang.


	61. Chapter 61

61

It had been three weeks since my mom kicked Fang out. I still can't believe she did that. I'd been meeting him every night and it was getting harder and harder. I would fall asleep at about one a.m. in the clearing with Fang and sleep in his arms until six. Then I'd get up and fly home. I had to go through the day on five hours of sleep. Continuously. Last night, I almost fell asleep at the dinner table. I tried to control it by sleeping during the day, but I was afraid of making my mom suspicious.

As usual, at eleven I opened my window and flew to the clearing. I ran into Fang's arms.

"I miss you," I said, as I do every night.

"I'll always be here if you need me," he whispered in my ear.

"Fang, why don't you come back to the house. Just for tonight," I asked. Fang was about to say 'no' when I added, "_Please?_"

"Alright," he agreed. "Just one night."

I smiled and we flew back to the ouse and into my room.

After a while of talking, we fell asleep on the bed, Fang's arms around my waist.

I was woken up by Fang's arms being torn off me. When I opened my eyes, I jumped out of bed and was immediately alert.

"Mom!" I shouted. She looked _furious._ She was holding Fang by the collar of his shirt even though he was about a foot taller than her.

"Max what the **** is wrong with you!" she yelled.

"What are you talking about!" I screamed back.

"You know very well what I'm talking about!"

"We were _just_ sleeping! It's not like we were doing anything!"

"Fang, out!" she yelled.

"No!" I protested. "It was my fault. I made him come here."

"Max! I thought you were smarter than this!"

"That's just the thing. I _am_ smarter. I'm smart enough to know that I need Fang."

"No, Max. You don't need him. Fang, _out._"

My eyes welled up with tears as my mom led Fang to the window and he flew out, not daring to kiss me goodbye.

"If Fang leaves, I go with him!" I yelled. And before my mom could protest, I jumped out the window after him.

"Fang!" I shouted. I flew to the clearing and was relieved to see Fang there. I ran up to him and tackled him in a hug. He wrapped his arms around me and spoke.

"I'm glad you followed me. For a minute, I was afraid you wouldn't."

"I'll always do my best to follow you."

We just lay there for a while, just letting us be alone.

Angel's POV

Angel was pacing in her room when Nudge walked in. "Nudge!" she said. "I need your help. I don't know what to do."

"What's wrong?" Nudge said as she sat down. on the bed and Angel sat next to her.

"Well, remember when the password to the bank card Max found came to me?" Nudge nodded. "Well, something like that happened again. This time it was about Fang's flock. It concerns the girls."

"What is it?" Nudge asked. Angel whispered in Nudge's ear. "I don't know, Ange. That's a big thing to drop on somebody. And they just went through a lot. Maybe it's better to wait."

Angel nodded in understanding.


	62. Chapter 62

62

"Max! Fang!" I heard someone yell. It was my mom. Uh, oh. Before I could even get out of sleeping Fang's arms, she ran into the clearing. She looked mad about me asleep with Fang, but I could tell she was trying to suppress it. "Thank goodness, I found you. Come home. Both of you."

That's when Fang woke up. When he saw Dr. Martinez, he quickly slipped out from under me. "It's all right, Fang. We can go back to the house."

Fang's face lit up and he gave a half smile. "Come on. Let's go."

We walked back to the house in silence with my mom. All the while Fang kept his arm around my shoulder. When we went in, I went to my room and sat at the window, peering out. It had become my way to relax.

After a few minutes, my mom walked in. "Max?" she said. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

I nodded and she sat down on the bed. I went and sat by her. "Max, I'm sorry for kicking Fang out."

"It's okay, Mom," I said.

"No, just let me explain," she protested. "Ella's been idolizing you; saying how much she wants to be like you and how brave you are. You're really important to her. At first, I thought it was really sweet. But then I got afraid that she might start to copy you. And you do some dangerous things, Max. I was afraid that she would go looking for trouble to try be like you. So I thought that if i restricted you, she would be safer; realize that you needed protection. But I talked with Ella, and realized that I was wrong. I'm sorry, Max."

She reached over and gave me a big hug. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, Max."

Life was starting to look good again. I was curious to see just how long it would hold out this time.


	63. Chapter 63

63

I was looking out my window in my room again. I was gazing out at the forest and saw two kids run out. Three erasers followed them. I tensed as I saw the kids turn to the erasers. They fought them off. But one was seriously injured. They had a nasty slash like Fang's just before we met Anne. I couldn't help myself. I pushed open the window and jumped out into the sky. I flew over to the kids. The one boy ran over to the hurt friend. He was tall, like all of us, and he looked around my age. He had short blonde hair and hazel eyes. The hurt boy had longer dark brown hair and green eyes. He looked about the same age. I ran over to help and the blonde boy immediately tensed.

"It's okay," I said. "I just want to help. Come on, lets get you inside."

We carried the hurt kid inside and I ran and got my mom. She ran down in a minute and saw the kid and gasped. She opened the first aid kit and quickly cleaned and stitched up the wound. "Thank you," they said.

"Why don't you stay with us for a bit," my mom said. "Max, why don't you stay here with them, I'll go get the flock," and she ran off.

I turned to the boys. "What are your names?" I asked.

"I'm Patch," the blonde kid said. "And this is Blaze."

Patch motioned to the other boy.

"I'm Max. And what DNA are you grafted with?"

"What are you-"

"Come on. You where chased by erasers," I said. To get them to trust me, I spread out my wings. They stared in awe. Good, they trusted me. But did I trust them. Just then, the flock came down stairs into the living room.

"Who are they?" Fang asked when he saw Patch and Blaze.

"This is Patch, and this is Blaze," I said introducing them.

"What are you guys grafted with?" Fang said, addressing them this time.

The boys exchanged glances and Blaze spoke. "We're... not sure, actually."

"Well, what are your powers?"

Blaze closed his eyes and held his hand palm up. a second later, there was a small flame floating just above his hand. We all stared in awe.

"Blaze can control it better than I can," Patch said and then he coughed. a small flame came from his mouth. He looked down sheepishly.

"Well," my mom spoke up. "We don't have any rooms, but you're welcome to sleep in here on the couches."

"Thank you," Patch said.

And so that was how we gained two more mutant refugees. The day went regularly and Patch and Blaze slept in the living room. Lather that day, though, Angel came up to me and told me that she couldn't read their minds. I told her it was probably something new experiments have. But part of me was a little cautious of those boys.


	64. Chapter 64

64

After two weeks, my caution started to fade about the boys. Gazzy and Iggy spent a lot of time hanging out with them. Blaze and Patch also spent time trying to flirt with Caroline and Hayley. Of course, It didn't work because they already were with Matt and Jake. They didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, so I started to relax a bit. Everything seemed fine, good. For those two weeks, things were almost happy. That's when everything changed.

It was about ten at night. Angel and Gaz were sleeping and the rest of us were in the living room, trying to keep it down so the adults and Ange and Gaz could sleep. We were just fooling around, talking and everything seemed so innocent. It just started when Patch and Blaze put their hands on the girls' shoulders and brought them over to he other side of the room. Blaze was talking to Caroline and Patch to Hayley. The girls rolled their eyes and started to walk away when the boys grabbed them. Patch grabbed Hayley around the waist and pulled a knife, holding it to her throat. Blaze grabbed Caroline around the neck and jabbed a gun into her stomach.

Immediately, we all jumped up. Matt and Jake were about to run up when Blaze shouted, "Nobody move!" and he pressed the gun a bit harder to Caroline's stomach. "We're taking these experiments back!"

Jake started to step forward when Patch noticed and pressed the knife closer to Hayley's throat. Blood started to trickle down her neck. Jake, fear and anger on his face, immediately stepping back. I could see Matt and Jake exchanging glances, uncertain of what to do next. If they charged, the girls would get hurt. If they didn't, they would take them.

"Let me take her place!" Jake finally shouted, edging towards Hayley. "Please, she's hurt."

Patch glanced at blaze who nodded. Hayley was released and Patch immediately grabbed Jake.

"Let me do the same," Matt said.

"No," Blaze replied. "This is the experiment we need to examine."

Matt started to step up, but Blaze held out two fingers and pointed them at Matt. Instantaneously, a bolt of fire shot out of his fingertips. In an instant, they were gone. And so were Caroline and Jake.

Matt had been knocked to the ground by the fire and was holding his right eye. Hayley sunk to her knees. "He's gone," she whispered.

Fang got the first-aid kit and walked over to her. He started to patch up her neck. I went over to Matt. "Matt, let me see your eye," I said to him.

He shook his head but kept his hand on his face. "I'm fine," he lied.

"Matt, let me see," I said in my no-nonsense tone. Finally, he sighed and removed his hand. I gasped when I saw. He had a still pink scar that went through his eye from a bit over his eyebrow to his cheek. There wasn't much we could do with that. It wasn't swelling so we had no reason to put ice on it. He would have that for the rest of his life. But that wasn't the freaky part. His eye, once a beautiful sapphire blue, was now an almost glowing green, like Blaze. I put my hand to my mouth.

"What's wrong?" he asked when he saw my expression. I silently led him to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror and his eyes widened. "Creepy," he muttered. I nodded in agreement.

We walked back into the living room and everyone was walking around, not really sure what to do. Fang was sitting on the couch with Hayley on his lap, crying in his shoulder. She had a strip of cloth tied around her neck for the cut. Fang shot me a look that said he'd rather be anywhere else. I went over and coaxed Hayley off of him. I let her cry on my shoulder as I led her to her room. "Max?" she said as she wiped her eyes.

"Yeah?" I said, sitting next to her.

"I'm sorry about crying. It was just shocking for me," she said.

"I get it. It's okay," I said. I started to walk out.

"Max, will we try to get them back?"

"Yes. We'll get them back. I promise."

She nodded her head and I left the room. In the living room, Nudge was trying to get Matt to sit down to put cloth on his eye. He was shouting, "You let them get away! They're _gone_! Do you even _care!_"

"Matt," I said soothingly. "Of course we care. I know how you feel. It's hard to be separated from someone you love. But we'll get them back, I promise." I got Matt to sit down on the couch. "Now let Nudge help with your eye."

He calmed down and Nudge tended to him. Eventually, I got everyone to settle down and go to sleep.

Now what I had to do is create a rescue plan to get Jake and Caroline back in the next few days. _That_ shouldn't be hard.

Caroline's POV

Although she was frightened, Caroline was a bit relieved that they didn't take Matt. She wouldn't want him to get hurt.

When Blaze dragged them to the forest, He bound their hands and feet and duct taped their mouths shut. At first, Caroline struggled. But when Blaze noticed, He landed a hard kick to her stomach. Caroline cringed, and Jake sent her a sympathetic look. They needed to get out of here.


	65. Chapter 65

65

For a while, Matt refused to cover his eye. Nudge finally confessed that it scared her and he agreed to cover it with a strip of black cloth. He tied it around his head like a bandana.

When everyone settled down, it was time to rock. "Well, what do we do now?" Matt asked.

"We need to make a plan," I replied.

Caroline's POV

Blaze and Patch brought them to a helicopter in a clearing deep in the forest. Caroline and Jake were thrown on, still bound and gagged. Blaze picked Caroline up from the collar of her shirt like a dog and dragged her to the edge of the open helicopter after they had taken off and were already high up.

"See that?" he said. "Don't misbehave, or that's what's waiting for you."

Caroline looked down at the ground that now resembled a play set. Blaze suddenly shook her, pretending to drop her. Caroline looked over at Jake with almost scared eyes.

After they landed, they were dragged into a lab where they were put in a moderate-sized room. Blaze came with them. "I got new permission," he said. "As long as I don't kill you, I can do whatever I want."

Blaze pulled out a pocket knife and thrust Caroline around. He grabbed her bound feet and cut the rope, cutting her ankles in the process. "Today's lesson: don't play with fire."

Blaze faced his palm towards her and shot a column of flame out of his hand. The flame took the shape of long and thin dragon and wrapped around her left arm, leaving a burn in the shape of a dragon going all the way down her arm, the head on her shoulder. She let out a muffled cry and wiggled out of the gag. "Your part dragon."

"Dragon? No. I'm just a superhuman gone wrong. For me to be part dragon, they'd need dragon DNA," he replied. He let out another blast of fire, hitting her back. She let out another scream as tears leaked from her eyes. She looked at Jake, her eyes sending him a single message. _Help me._

"Stand up!" Blaze barked. Caroline weakly got to her feet. "You got any ability? Or are you just weak? Come on, stand up!"

Blaze gave her a deathly look and Caroline looked into those evil glowing green eyes. "Why? Why me?"

"Because," Blaze replied. "I know Matt. We were in the school together. We were friends. Until he broke out. He refused to come back for me. I want to make him pay, but unfortunately I couldn't take him. But he had a girlfriend! The next best thing. You. If I can't hurt him, I'll hurt the one he loves," As Blaze talked, he went up to Caroline and walked around her. "You're nothing, but the only chance I've got."

With that, Blaze walked out of the room. When he left, Caroline collapsed to her knees and let out a dry sob. Jake, who had also gotten out of his gag, said, "It'll be okay. They'll come and rescue us."

* * *

><p>Author's Note: This extra chapter for the week is for Imagine Believe Achieve! If I get a story subscription, I'll post a second chapter for the week. Enjoy!<p>

-write on-  
>Is<p> 


	66. Chapter 66

66

We needed a plan. _Fast._ Matt was starting to freak out and loose it. "Matt, _please!_" I said for the tenth time. He sat back down. "Thank you. Now, we know where they were taken. They were taken to the School in California. They wanted her back to see the result of her DNA graft. They have to be there."

"Let's go then!" Matt said and walked outside.I shrugged and we all followed him.

Caroline's POV

The next day, Caroline woke up to the best sound she could hear in this situation. Matt calling her name. "Caroline!"

"Matt, we're in here!" she yelled back. Just then, Blaze and Patch walked in laughing.

"Caroline!" Matt yelled again. But it wasn't Matt. It was his voice, but it came from Patch. Caroline's hopeful look faded into a look of despair.

"Did you seriously think it was that easy?" Blaze laughed. "Pitiful. I don't get it. What could Matt possibly see in you?" Caroline looked away. She didn't know. What did Matt see in her? "Pitiful. Are you ready for today's lesson?"

Max's POV

The winged flew while the wingless were below in the Corvette being driven by Matt. I don't know how much time passed, but we reached the School that day. We landed by the side of the School and met up with the car. "Let's rock," Matt said. He ran around the corner of the building and we heard a slight thud. We followed him around the corner and saw him scanning an ID card, standing by two unconscious guards. We ran in and started running down the halls. We ran upstairs and started looking in rooms. On around the fifth room, Matt busted in first. Matt clenched his fists in rage as he saw what was going on.

Blaze was holding Caroline in his arms, and it looked like they were about to kiss. Blaze immediately put Caroline on her feet and stepped in front of her. "Blaze is better, Matt. Goodbye," she said.

Caroline's POV

Caroline heard a scuffle in the hallway and Blaze picked her up. He was about to kiss her when the doors burst open. The whole flock ran in, Matt in front. Blaze put Caroline on her feet and stepped in front of her. Caroline saw the gun that Blaze was holding behind his back and started to tense. She started to panic when Patch used her voice to say, "Blaze is better, Matt. Goodbye."

Max's POV

Oh, God, that was a shocker. Matt started to walk up to Blaze when Blaze pulled a gun. "Didn't you hear the girl, Matt? She wants me."

"Matt!" Jake yelled from the corner. "Don't believe him! It's a setup! Patch is right over there and he can use different voices-"

"Shut up!" Blaze yelled and pointed the gun at him. Jake immediately stopped talking.

"Wait, Nick?" Matt said.

"Don't call me that! I'm Blaze now."

"I haven't seen you in years! What happened?"

"You ditched me, thats' what happened!"

"No, I didn't! They moved us to a different branch. We escaped later."

"You could have come back," Blaze brought the gun back on Matt. Jake started to talk again and Blaze brought the gun to him. In his moment of distraction, Matt landed a roundhouse kick to his face and knocked him out.

Patch came out of the darkness in the corner and pushed me into the wall. He pulled out a gun and held it to me. Fang was about to come over when I said, "No, Fang. I have this," In my no-nonsense tone. Fang stopped and I turned back to Patch. "Seriously?"

He raised one eyebrow and I kneed him in between his legs and then knocked him out with a kick to his face. I reached down and took his gun. Matt did the same with Blaze. "Let's rock."

"What did you think you were doing! Do you know how dangerous that was! He had a gun!" Fang scolded. I rolled my eyes and stopped him with three words.

"Safety was on."

Fang gave a slight smile. "What a bozo."

We all ran out and made our way home.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: First of all, I want to say 'thank you' to anyone who is still reading this. It's been a long FanFic and it takes a good attention span and patience to deal with me taking so long to post to read this story. Yesterday was the first time in a while that I've posted a new chapter. But I will work on that! It will be better throughout the summer because school is out. Which brings me to my next issue.<p>

I have prewritten chapters saved up to chapter 91. My plan is to post a new chapter every Friday, all while adding to the prewritten chapters. Do you want me to do something different? REVIEW and tell me what I should do!


	67. Chapter 67

67

We arrived home around midnight and didn't even make it to our rooms. We ended up crashing in the living room. I fell asleep leaning against the wall next to Fang.

After about an hour of sleep, I woke up and looked around. I noticed that Caroline was missing. Silently, I crept out of the room and went upstairs. I poked in Nudge and Angel's and it was empty. I continued down the hall and went into my room. Caroline was sitting by the window looking out, as I had done so many times before. She sensed me there and turned.

"Oh, Max. I'm sorry. I just needed a place to relax and think," she said.

"No, It's fine. I know how you feel," I said and sat down next to her.

"I just don't know what to do now. I need to know more and I just don't know how to find out. What's Matt and Jake's connection with Blaze and Patch? And how can we stay away from them? They know where we are. And Max, how do you deal with this pain? I can barely keep myself from breaking down. Those horrid green eyes... They're enough to scare me to death."

"Caroline, what exactly did Blaze do to you?"

In response, Caroline pushed off the blanket around her shoulders. I was shocked at what I saw. A burn scar in the shape of a long dragon spiraled up her right arm, the head on her shoulder. "There are more scars on my back from burns and the whip he had," she added.

"Oh my gosh! How did he do this?" I replied.

"I'm not sure. It just makes me a bit uneasy. I feel like it could be his mark or something. I don't know."

"I don't know, either. I'm uneasy, too, though. I think we should keep moving. We've been in this house too long." After a pause, I added, "You get some sleep. You need it. Stay in my room tonight."

I walked to the door as Caroline climbed into my bed and curled up, closely resembling a wolf. I was about to leave when she whispered, "Max?"

"Yeah?" I replied, poking my head back in the room.

"What happened with Matt?"

I paused. "Well, he got a bit hurt. I think that's something you should ask him."

She nodded. "Thanks, Max. For everything."

I smiled as I closed the door and headed back downstairs.

Matt's POV

Matt woke up early. He looked to his let and saw that Caroline was missing. His heart sped up a bit but he told himself not to panic. He couldn't help but be a bit worried after what had happened. He looked around the room. Everyone else was there and asleep. He tiptoed out of the room and upstairs. Matt searched and finally found Caroline asleep in, from the look of it, Max's room. This was the first time he had actually been in this house.

Matt walked into the room and realized that Caroline's face was tear-streaked. He couldn't help but think that she'd been crying because of him.

Caroline's POV

Caroline awoke and felt arms around her. She started to panic, thinking of what had happened recently. She thrashed and was immediately let go. She fell out of the bed and morphed into a wolf. When her eyes focused and she realized what was happening, she morphed back.

Matt was there in the bed. He was sitting up with his arms in the air like he had been caught or something. He had a bashful half-smile on his face. She got back in the bed and sat with him. Matt gently pulled her shoulders back so she lay on his chest.

"I'm sorry I startled you. I woke up and you weren't there, it just, scared me a bit," he whispered in her hair.

"I know what you mean. When I woke up just now, I thought that, that they had, had gotten me again," she spoke between sniffles.

"It's okay. They won't hurt you. Not again. I won't let them," Matt said as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. "I promise."


	68. Chapter 68

68

I gathered everybody downstairs when they were all awake. I wanted to tell them about what Caroline and I had decided the night before. I wanted to get on the road as soon as possible.

"So what's the news?" Nudge asked, bouncing up and down.

"Wait a minute!" I said, trying to calm her down. "Matt and Caroline aren't down yet."

Just as I said it, I heard footsteps on the stairs. Matt walked in, his arms around Caroline's shoulders. They sat down, Caroline on Matt's lap. Caroline looked like she was still shaken up a bit, but was trying to hide it.

"Last night, Caroline and I decided we should start to move on. We've been in this house too long. And now we know they know where we are. It's just not safe anymore," I announced.

"Yeah, Max?" Iggy said. "That's a great idea and all, but where are we going to go? I mean, we're not looking for our parents anymore."

That stopped me. To tell the truth, I hadn't thought of where we were going to head next.

"There actually is somewhere I want to go, but I don't know if you guys would go for it," Hayley spoke up.

"I'm sure it can't be that bad," I said. "Where is it?"

"The lab in Canada. The one where Caroline and I... grew up."

Everything went silent. Labs were touchy business with us mutants. We hated them. Tried to avoid them at all costs. We didn't usually go waltzing in one unless we had good reason.

"Um, no offense, but, why do you want to go _back_ to that place?" Iggy asked.

"Well, I've been thinking about it, and we left someone behind, too."

"And you're sure about this?" I asked, a little unsure.

"Yes," She responded. "I'm absolutely sure."

"Okay then. We'll go to Canada."

And that's how we decided where we were headed.


	69. Chapter 69

69

"Ready guys?" I said. We were about to head to Canada. Road trip! The flock and I were flying while Matt, Caroline, Hayley, and Jake took the Corvette. I quickly hugged my mom and Ella goodbye. Then I reluctantly gave Jeb a quick hug. He had been nice lately. We all exchanged hugs and got ready to go. We wouldn't be back here in a while, if ever. I'd made my mom promise that they would leave once we did. I didn't want anyone getting hurt. Especially not them.

"I love you, mom," I whispered as she let go. I waved one final goodbye and we took off into the open sky, the others in the car below.

After we got halfway through Wyoming, we decided to stop. It was about six o'clock, so we got gas for the car and a motel room for us with the money my mom gave me. We went into the motel room and flopped down after the tiring day.

"Halfway there," I announced.

"It might be my newfound paranoia, but what if Blaze and Patch recognize us. I mean, they knew where the house was," Caroline pointed out. She was right. they could easily be tailing us. Shoot. But that's why I (almost) always have a plan.

"I saw a thrift store across town. We'll stop there tomorrow morning and get new clothes," I said. "Caroline, you need to get a jacket or something. we need to cover up the burns on your arm. They're a bit of a dead giveaway."

Caroline nodded.

We grouped for sleeping and then we all fell asleep like we were hit over the head with a rock.

The next morning, we all woke up bright and early and headed to the thrift store. I told the four of them to each pick out an outfit. I figured that it was really just the four of them that were in need of disguises.

In an hour, we walked out of the store and went back to the motel to check out. Caroline wore a pair of black jeans and a grey shirt with a dark grey hoodie. Matt and Jake wore... well gangster kind of outfits. I had cracked up when the showed me. They were just, so _not_ like that. It was pretty funny.

Here's a picture

Jake's on the left and Matt's on the right.

Hayley was the odd one out. She wore a frilly pink dress with flowers embroidered on the bottom edge. Her hat was made of pink felt and had little pink kitty ears on the top. Caroline had dared her to get the outfit. We all burst out laughing when we saw her come out of the dressing room and twirl around. I let her get jeans and a t-shirt so she wouldn't have to run around in that dress.

We went back to the motel and checked out with a fat guy behind the desk who was missing a few teeth. I handed him the money and we were out the door.

W hopped in the car and drove until we were on a deserted road. Then the flock and I got out of the car and took off, leaving the others in the car.

After another day of travel, we were close to the border of Canada. The lab was about twenty miles away. We decided to stop again for the night so we could be well-rested for the ambush the next day. We drove around for a bit and finally found a small tavern (apparently taverns still exist and weren't just around in the revolution) in a pretty obscure town. Perfect. We left the car in the small parking lot and went into the tavern. The tavern was called The Runaway's Refuge. I found that very ironic. We got two rooms; one for the boys and one for the girls. My flock and I had a long day of flying and the others had their nerves frayed from Matt's driving, so we all crashed almost immediately.


	70. Chapter 70

70

"Okay, so will you tell us exactly who we're rescuing from this death trap?" I asked Hayley. She had been a bit reluctant to tell us that. "You'll see," she said. She peered out from the bushes and looked at the entrance. We were outside the School headquarters, plotting our daring break-in. I could see Jake getting a bit edgy. He kept scratching his jaw line nervously, and I knew exactly why. He was afraid this mysterious person we were rescuing was an old boyfriend, if you could even have a boyfriend in a place like that. "Ready, go!" Hayley yelled/whispered. Fang, Dylan and I flew up to the roof and landed silently. Then we jumped down onto the three guards and took them out. We used their passkeys to get in and we let Caroline and Hayley lead the way. The took all of us through the winding halls of the School until the girls finally stopped. We had to be at least on the fifth floor. They each took one side of the door and counted down. They kicked the door at the same time and it fell to the ground with a clatter. The room inside was... a nursery. There were metal cribs along the back wall. To the left, there was a medicine cabinet filled with needles and other medical supplies that made my stomach turn. The walls were a butter yellow with a cartoon character border along the top. It was sick. The scientists made a torture room look all happy. It wasn't right. Only two of the cribs weren't empty. Hayley and Caroline each walked over to a crib and pulled out a toddler, each about three years old. One was wearing little toddler jeans and a plain white t-shirt. The other, in Caroline's arms, wore a colorful shirt and mittens. They looked like normal children. Then again, so do we. "Hayley!" the toddler in Hayley's arms squealed. "I knew you'd come back! You promised!" "We did promise, Star! Have they been nice to you while we were gone?" "No meaner than usual. But we need to go. They were very mad that you left," Star said. "I missed you a lot, Caroline!" said the girl in Caroline's arms. "But you did come back like you said!" "I wouldn't leave you, Fluffy!" Caroline responded. "We need to get out of here," said Hayley. Caroline nodded in response and we ran out the door, the girls still carrying Fluffy and Star on their hips. We thought we would make it out smoothly when we ran into these bazaar robots dressed in clothes obviously designed for fighting ambushed us.

"Kamikazes," Caroline and Hayley said in unison. I immediately guessed they were this School's version of erasers. The flock and I all assumed fighting stances and got ready for a battle. Star and Fluffy climbed onto the girls' backs and locked their arms around their necks.

The next few minutes were a blur of kicks and punches. When the fight subsided, we ran out as fast as we could. Again, my flock flew while the others drove. We made it back to The Runaway's Refuge safely and all gathered in the girls' room.

"Oh, I we missed you guys!" Star and Fluffy shrieked when we had gotten in the room. Hayley and Caroline were sitting on the couch and the little girls sat on their laps and wrapped their arms around their waists. Caroline and Hayley retaliated by holding the toddlers closer to them. Hayley put her kitty hat on Star.

"Sorry- we never properly introduced everyone," Caroline said, looking at Hayley.

"Yeah!" She responded. "So guys, this is Star and Fluffy. And Star and Fluffy, this is Max, Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, Angel, and Dylan." Dylan looked pleased with himself for being mentioned and I rolled my eyes and glared at him. Then I sat on the couch next to Hayley. Star climbed onto my lap. "What's your power?" I asked her. "I'm a kitty-cat!" she replied, definitely proud of her power. "Really?" I asked in my best little kid voice. "Can you show me?" Star nodded and started to morph. Within a minute, I had a yellowish-orange house cat on my lap. I scratched Star behind the ears and she purred. He she changed back into her normal self. "And what about you?" I asked Fluffy. Fluffy flashed me a smile that immediately reminded me of the Gasman and then started to morph. It took her jet as long as it had taken Star to assume her animal figure. When she was done, sitting on Caroline's lap was the most beautiful orange fox I had ever seen. Now I understood why she could pull off Gazzy's signature smile. She was as sly as a fox. I made a mental note not to leave her alone with Gazzy in fear something might explode. In short, they were the most magnificent (and I have to say, probably the cutest!) toddlers ever to walk this earth.


	71. Chapter 71

71

"Why?" Ella asked. I had to break the news to her.

"I'm sorry, Ella. But we have to leave. Blaze and Patch will come after us. I can't let them catch us. I don't want anyone getting hurt. That includes you," I told her. She wanted me to stay, and I did, too. But we had stayed here too long.

"Fine," she said with a reluctant smile that told me she understood. She hugged me and I hugged her back and walked out of the room, carrying my small backpack. It had food, a few pairs of clothes, Fang's notes, and the picture frame Nudge gave me of us all at our birthday party.

We'd decided to travel on foot and see where Matt and Jake came from. We were going to follow them to a lab in Michigan. It was the lab they were transferred to when they left the School.

"Are we all ready?" I asked as I went downstairs. Everyone was in the living room waiting. I received nods in reply. We waved goodbye one last time and took to the forest.

When it started to get dark, we stopped and made a camp for the night. While I was tending the fire, Fang sneaked up from behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I smiled and turned around, burying my head in his shoulder. We were all healthy, and more or less safe. I held Fang tightly.

"Promise me something?" I whispered loud enough so just he could hear.

"What's that?" he asked, stroking my hair.

"Promise me you won't leave me. Ever again," I asked. Fang stayed silent. "Fang, promise me."

"I-I can't, Max. You know I can't."

"Fang, you can't leave me. Not again. Please, not again. I can't go through that again. You don't know what it's like. I'm afraid of what'll happen if you leave."

"Max, I can't promise you because what if- if I _won't_ be here anymore. If I'm not _anywhere_?"

That statement made my blood run cold. "Fang, no. Don't talk like that. _You_ die when _I_ die."

"Max, it's not just that. There are a lot things that could happen."

"Fang, you're thinking about leaving, aren't you?" Fang looked away but didn't answer. I broke away. "Then go. Just go!"

"Max, it's not that."

"Then, _please_, explain. Because I'm _so_ confused with you," I said, sinking to the ground. Fang came over and put his arm around me. I looked away.

"Max, I don't want to talk about me leaving. I know how you felt-" I cut him off.

"No you don't. There's no way you felt the same way. You had the strength to stay away when you knew where I was. If I knew where you where, I would've run to you, first thing."

"Yes, _I do know_. When you got shocked by the ring and the note, I tried to help you. But when I touched your wrist, I got shocked, too. I saw everything you did, felt everything you felt."

"So you know the extreme deadly heartbreak you caused," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "But you're willing to cause it again?"

"No! Max, I'm just afraid for you. What if I get taken and you can't get me back? What if you get captured and killed trying?"

"If they take me and lock me in a dog crate, then I'd die next to you. That's what I want, Fang. I want you to be with me."

"I'll be there. I promise. And I won't leave you."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

I smiled at him and hugged him again. Then we all had a makeshift dinner of food my mom packed us. Fang had scared me with leaving, but I think he was just a bit edgy.


	72. Chapter 72

72

I woke up with a gun to my head. "Don't speak or I'll pull the trigger," said a rough voice from behind me. I nodded numbly. The man tied up my arms and started to drag me away. I looked around and saw that everyone else had the same treatment. Just when we made it to the doors of a School, the man hit me in the head with the gun, making me black out.

Hayley's POV

Hayley woke up outside a lab, a School, all alone. Fear crept up on her and her heart started to beat faster. Her breathing started to quicken. She started to panic, but tried to keep it under control. She had to find everyone.

She walked into the School and traveled through a narrow hallway. The entire hall was completely white, as were all the other rooms in the building. Hayley opened the door at the end of the hall and immediately knew that this sick place was true h***.

A dead fox and cat hung from the ceiling each by a chained foot. _Fluffy and Star,_ Hayley thought. She put her hand over her mouth and looked around more.

One corner of the room had blood-covered feathers scattered. Max and Fang lay in the corner next to the rest of the flock, Angel tucked under Max's arm. Each flock member had a dagger driven into their heart. It was sick.

Hayley was shaking now, and close to the breaking point. Her hands were on her head and she was pulling at her hair. She turned around and screamed bloody murder.

Matt and Caroline lay on the floor together. Caroline had a knife in her stomach and Matt's neck was snapped. Their wrists were chained together.

Jake lay next to them, a bullet hole in his head. There was a big X over his entire chest from a knife cut. Hayley was shaking her head, quivering terribly now.

"No!" she screamed. She ran out the door at the other side of the room. She found herself in a hallway again. She looked down both ways but all she saw was white. In front of her was a white table with a folded slip of paper addressed to her on it. She picked it up with her shaking hand and opened it.

_Hello, Hayley_

_As you have realized, our facility is designed to test how well you work under pressure. To test this, we have decided to show each of you your worst fear. The bodies in the previous room were mere replicas of your friends. If you want to save your real friends, you must work under the pressure of your own fear and rescue each of your friends from their own personal fears. Each person is in a separate room on this floor, facing their own fears as you stand here reading this. Go._

Hayley looked back down the corridors, understanding what she had to do. She quickly ran right down the hallway.

Max's POV

I woke up in a completely white room. I looked around and saw Fang in the opposite corner of the room.

"Fang," I said. "Where are we?"

"We're at the School. A new one, actually. It's where Matt and Jake grew up," Fang answered, completely calm.

"We need to get out of here," I replied, getting up. "And get the others."

"No, Max. You're staying right here," Fang said as he walked to the door.

"What?"

"Goodbye, Max," Fang said, a devious smile on his face. I started to talk, but he cut me off. "Don't you get it? It was all an act! You're worthless to me. I never _actually_ cared about you! You're so ignorant."

And he walked out, locking the door behind him. Just like that. He left. I sunk back to the floor, my head in my hands as I tried to make sense of the situation.

Fang's POV

Fang woke up in a white gymnasium-sized room. He got up and saw a figure walking towards him from the other side of the room, her curly brown hair flowing behind her. She wore a low-cut shirt and denim mini shorts.

"Max!" Fang said. Then he realized something was off. It could have been her angelic smile on her face, or her un-Max-like clothing. Fang didn't have time to think about that. When she was a few yards away, she pulled out a loaded pistol from behind her.

"Bye, Fang!" she said in an angelic voice. The next thing fang heard was a double click as the gun cocked.

Hayley's POV

Hayley opened a door, afraid of what she would find. Instead of finding a bloody scene, she found Max on her knees, fighting back tears.

"Max, what happened?" she asked.

Max looked up at Hayley. "He- he left. He left all over again."

"Max, that wasn't the real Fang."

Max's face almost lit up. "It wasn't?"

"No, it was a clone. Now come with me, we have to go," Hayley said. Max nodded and popped onto her feet. She followed Hayley out the door and into the hallway. They ran into another white room, this one the size of an auditorium. Fang was there, fighting a Max clone.

"That's the real Fang," Hayley said. Max had a determined look on her face as she flew up to the ceiling. She dropped down onto the alternate Max and kicked her in the head, knocking her out cold. Fang looked at Max and smiled.

"That's my Max," he said.

Iggy's POV

Max. Fang. Nudge. Ella. Gazzy. Angel. Even Fang's flock. Everyone Iggy cared about flashed in his mind. All of them dead or dying brutal deaths. Iggy couldn't stop it. He was about to go mad.

It all stopped when he heard a click of the door and three pairs of feet run in.

"Come on, Iggy. Let's go get the others," came a voice Iggy recognized as Hayley's. He immediately followed her, glad to have the torture behind him.

Nudge's POV

He mind was possessed. Nudge felt Angel's presence in her mind. Her eyes wouldn't open, but she felt she was on a cliff about to be pushed. She heard a door open and her eyes flashed open. She was in a completely white room and Max, Fang, Iggy, and Hayley stood at the doorway. She followed them out into the hallway.

Angel's POV

Angel was about to go crazy. She couldn't hear anything. Hear as in thoughts. Her powers came back when the door to her room opened and she ran into the hall where Max, Fang, Nudge, Iggy, and Hayley were waiting.

Dylan's POV

Dylan was quivering. He was strapped to a metal table. Dr. Günter-Hagen was standing over him, a needle in his hand. He was about to inject the deadly needle into Dylan's arm when Dylan heard a click. He thought his eyes were open, but when he actually did open them, he was lying on the floor in a completely white room. Most of his friends were standing in the doorway. He followed them, relieved his nightmare was over.

Hayley's POV

Hayley went off the list in her head. Only a few more people left. Gazzy, Caroline, Jake, Matt, and Fluffy and Star. The next room made her relax a bit more. Fluffy and Star sat in the middle of the room and looked at her and smiled when she walked in. There was another note in the middle of the room. She picked it up and read.

_These little girls are too young to handle the stress of our testing. They are the only ones exempt._

Hayley let out a sigh of relief and handed the toddlers to Max.

"Go," she instructed Max. "Take the others and go. I'll meet you in the forest. I need to get the others on my own."

To Hayley's surprise, Max obeyed. She probably understood how Hayley needed to do this alone.

"Okay," Max said. "Just be careful."

With that, Max left with everyone else, leaving Hayley alone. Hayley made her way down the hallway and opened another door. Jake's room.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Sorry I didn't post for a while! I didn't have much time. Please, keep reading if you're still interested. New chapters every friday, and I promise I'll stay on top of it better!<p>

-write on-  
>Is<p> 


	73. Chapter 73

73

Hayley's POV

Hayley opened the door to Jake's room and was immensely relieved not to be greeted with his blood.

"Jake!" she said, stepping towards him.

"Don't move," he said. That's when Hayley realized the red laser dot on Jake's shirt. She looked at the wall and realized where the laser was coming from. A gun was rigged with a motion sensor. Now she understood why he was so tense. One false move could trigger the gun, and the dot was right over his heart.

"I'll get you out of this. I promise," Hayley said. Jake was chained by his wrists to a thick beam in the middle of the room. Hayley went and looked at the gun closely without getting in its path. The motion sensor was hooked into the wall right above the gun. There was a thin wire connecting the sensor to the gun. If the sensor were tripped, it would release the wire, causing the gun to fire. Hayley went behind Jake.

"I'm going to get these chains off," she said. "When they come off, don't move stay as if you were still chained up."

"Okay," Jake said obediently. Hayley landed a solid kick to the rusty lock, causing it to snap in two. As instructed, Jake stayed still.

"Now, when I say 'go', I want you to duck, and _quick_," Hayley instructed again. Jake understood and Hayley went back to the gun. Hayley carefully put her hand by the wire, but made sure it wasn't in front of the gun. She quickly grabbed the wire. In the same instant, she shouted "Go!" and Jake ducked. The wire was released from the sensor, but the moment of delay Hayley caused gave Jake enough time to avoid death. The gunshot echoed in the room, leaving an ominous feeling. Jake rushed over to Hayley. He wrapped her in his arms and spun her around. He gave her a meaningful kiss on her lips and whispered in her ear.

"Thank you so much. You saved my life."

She hugged him back and then broke away. "Caroline and Matt," she said. They both ran out of the room and down the hall.

Matt's POV

Matt woke up with chains on his hands and his shirt had been cut off of him. The chains were connected to the ceiling, but allowed him to kneel but have his hands above his head. His tension grew.

A hooded figure dressed in all black walked over to him. The man had a filled canteen at his side. _I'm going to be forced to drink poison,_ Matt thought. Little did he know, it would be much worse.

The man took a knife from his pocket and used it to slowly carve a deep, curving line in Matt's back. Matt sucked in breath to deal with the pain. He only screamed when the man took the canteen and poured saltwater in the deep cut. Cut after cut it went the same way. The knife carving his back, then the burning saltwater.

Hayley's POV

The next room they came to held Caroline. Caroline saw the door open and cried out for help.

"Caroline!" Hayley yelled back. In the middle of the room, Caroline was in a pool built into the ground. The edges rose about a foot above the floor. The water was high on her neck. "Swim over here and we'll pull you out."

"I-I can't. Is everyone safe?" she asked.

"Yeah," Hayley answered. "We're going to go save Matt and then get out of here."

"Good. Go do that. Tell Matt and Fluffy I love them," she said solemnly.

"Why? What are you talking about? You can't give up on me!" Hayley shouted.

"There's nothing you can do. The water's rising and my ankle is tied to the bottom. I'll drown if I don't die of exhaustion first. Just tell them I love them, please. As a sort of dying wish. And there's one thing I want to tell you," Caroline spoke. "I love you like a sister, Hayley. I really do. You mean so much to me. You really do. And I hope you realize it."

"No, you don't have a dying wish! You're fifteen!" Hayley yelled.

"Goodbye," Caroline whispered as exhaustion took her. She slipped under the water and Hayley jumped in. She pulled a knife from her ankle and sawed at the rope. After what she felt was hours, the rope snapped and Hayley pulled Caroline out of the water. Caroline's eyes opened and she coughed.

"You saved my life," she said gratefully and hugged Hayley.

"I couldn't let you die, you're like a sister to me, too," Hayley said. "Now let's go get you're boyfriend."

"He's not-" Caroline started, going to her immediate response, but then realized. "Yeah, lets go."

They ran out the door and stopped at the last door in the dreaded white hallway. Hayley was suddenly scared of what they might find. Caroline had already been through a lot, and Hayley didn't know what Matt's worst fear was.

But she knew they had to go in the room. They couldn't just leave. Hayley grasped the doorknob and pushed open the door.


	74. Chapter 74

74

Hayley's POV

They walked into Matt's room and Caroline screamed at what she saw. Hayley and Jake were in pure shock.

Matt was on his knees, his hands chained to the ceiling, his head hung low. His back, arms, and chest were covered in deep, open cuts. He was surrounded by a puddle of blood. Caroline ran over to him and picked his head up. She heard him mutter something but couldn't make out the words.

"Were going to get you out of here and help you. Just hold on," Caroline told him.

"Kill me," Matt said again, louder now. "Just one more cut. Just get this pain over with."

"No, no, no. Stay with me, were going to get you out of this. I promise," Caroline said, panicked. She looked over at Hayley and Jake. "Help me get the chains off. Please."

"Stand back," Jake muttered as he morphed and leaped into the air. He grabbed one of the chains with his teeth and ripped it out of the ceiling as he fell. He did the same with the other. Caroline wedged the shackle between the floor and her foot and got the screws out of both of them.

They ran out, Caroline carrying Matt, who was clinging to life.


	75. Chapter 75

75

Hayley fell behind. She wanted to know that the others safely made it to Max and the flock. Hayley was looking back when her foot caught on a tree root and she fell. Hayley swore under her breath and got up, but the others were out of sight. She heard footsteps and turned. Jake was standing there running towards her.

"Jake! What are you doing? Go to the others!" Hayley said.

"Come on, you need to come with me!" Jake grabbed Hayley's wrist and led her back to the School. Hayley started to back up.

"Jake are you _insane!_ We need to get out of here," Hayley turned her back and started to leave but heard an unmistakable click. She froze in her spot and closed her eyes. _She'd been tricked._ Jake walked up to Hayley and grabbed her arm. He held the gun to the side of her head and she stayed perfectly still.

He led Hayley back into the death trap and slammed her against the wall in the second hallway. He pressed the gun into Hayley's throat.

"Ah, how ignorant you all are," Jake II laughed. "It's just _so_ easy! I mean this trigger has such a _light_ touch. Just so easy to set off, you know? Just a _small_ tap and _bang!_" Jake jumped, startling Hayley. Jake laughed again at his own sick humor.

"I could end you so fast you wouldn't even know what hit you!" Jake II laughed again, scaring Hayley even more. "So you know what? I'm going to have a little fun. _Run_."

Jake let go of Hayley's neck, letting her drop to the ground. She quickly scrambled up, catching her breath, and ran. Jake shot at her feet and she ran faster. When she got to the end of the hallway, she started to panic. Jake appeared right behind her and pushed the gun into her back. Hel led Hayley back to the middle of the hallway. That's when all h*** broke loose.

The flock ran in, minus Fluffy, Star, Nudge, and Matt. Fang landed a swift kick to the fake Jake's back, knocking him down. He quickly retrieved Jake's gun and trained it on him. Fang looked terrifying, like he had been using guns his whole life.

Hayley looked over at Max, whose jaw was tightened as she kept a watchful eye over the gun. Hayley could tell the gun in Fang's hands made her uneasy, but she didn't know why. Max quickly kicked Jake II's neck and snapped it. Fang eased up and lowered the gun.

"Come on," Max said. "Let's get out of here before anyone else comes out."

Everyone followed Max out the doors and into the forest.


	76. Chapter 76

76

We ran through the forest, taking a long curving way to make sure we weren't followed. When we reached Nudge, she was sitting on the ground next to Matt, the toddlers surrounding her. She looked up when she heard us and I saw the concern on her face. Hayley picked up Fluffy and Star.

Caroline rushed over to Matt and lightly put him on her lap. She cradled him and gently stroked the side of his face. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked up.

"Help," she whispered, barely audible. "Please."

I walked over to her and picked up Matt. I wrapped him in my jacket, half in an attempt to help and half in need to cover his horrifyingly mutilated flesh.

"Fang and I will take Matt and fly ahead and see if we can get home before sunset. You guys follow after us." I announced. I looked at Caroline and she nodded, unable to speak. I could see she didn't like the idea of being separated from Matt, but knew that it was his best chance, if he had any. I turned to Fang. "Let's go."

Fang and I took off into the sky. I was carrying Matt, and was flying at about 250 miles per hour. Fang and I landed behind a hospital and ran in. The woman at the counter saw us and gasped at the sight of Matt, wrapped in my now bloody jacket. She quickly walked over to us.

"Oh, good God, What happened?" she said. "Come with me."

She started to walk down a hallway and we followed her. She opened up a closet and pulled out a gurney. I laid Matt down and continued to follow the nurse as she walked through the maze of hallways.

"What happened?" she repeated.

My brain reeled as I tried to come up with a cover story. "We were, uh, camping and, um..."

"He got mauled by a wolf," Fang stepped in and saved me. I shot him a questioning look. He just shrugged.

"Where were your parents when this happened?" the nurse questioned. "And where are they now?"

"Our parents are... ambassadors. And they're on a business trip for the next month... in Canada," I struggled. It was Fang's turn to question my alibi.

"But who's looking out for you for the month?" This nurse just wouldn't give up.

"Um, I'm sixteen so my parents left me home alone," I went on.

"Your parents left you home alone? Are you two siblings?"

"No, he's my boyfriend. He just stays with me sometimes," I blurted out and soon regretted it.

"Do your parents know that he's staying with you?"

"Um, no," I said struggling to form an excuse. Why was I slipping? I'm a word _queen!_

The nurse's eyebrows rose. "So your parents are gone you're in your house alone and your boyfriend is staying with you without your parents knowing?"

"No! Not exactly," I backtracked, realizing what I'd said. "My parents didn't know about the camping trip. I'm sorry, I'm just really nervous. I want Nick's brother to be okay," I pointed to Fang as I said Nick.

The nurse accepted my alibi with less questions and I relaxed a bit. Just a bit. We were led into a room and the nurse started hooking Matt up to all sorts of machines and proceeded to wrap him up in gauze.

"I'm going to go outside for a bit and look for the others," I said. I stood on my toes and gave Fang a swift kiss before going out the door. I ran out and caught up with everyone else, directing them towards the hospital. We all ran into Matt's room and Caroline ran up to the bed and grabbed Matt's hand. She turned to the nurse.

"Is he going to be alright?" she quickly asked the nurse.

"It's hard to tell at this point. But I assure you I'm going to try everything I can."

Caroline nodded. I went over to her and pulled her into a reassuring hug. She was being really brave. I know what she was going through, and I know how devastating it is.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered to her. " I'm so sorry."


	77. Chapter 77

77

We were told to stay in a room we had all to ourselves. I guess they didn't want us rambunctious teenagers with the other patients. The room they gave us resembled a hotel lobby with a deep red carpet, a few chairs, and a coffee table. Hayley and Jake were on the floor trying to keep Star content. Caroline was holding Fluffy and pacing the room, unable to sit still.

The nurse walked in and we all froze and stared at her. She gave us an update on how Matt was doing and then let us into his room. "He's still unconscious and were not sure when he'll wake up. But he can't go into surgery until he's stable enough."

We all walked slowly across the hall and entered the hospital room. The nurse continued, "Your free to stay as long as needed."

The nurse walked out and I took charge. "Okay, guys. It's late. We should get some sleep."

Nudge found a stack of blankets in a closet and passed them around. Iggy and Gazzy slept in the corner by the door. Nudge fell asleep in the middle of the floor. Hayley was curled up in Jake's arms against a wall, holding a sleeping Star. Fang lay down against a different wall and looked up at me, patting the space beside him. I pressed my finger to my lip and took an extra blanket. I quietly walked to the other side of Matt's bed, which wasn't visible from where I had been.

Caroline was sleeping in the very corner holding Fluffy, her tear-streaked face looking peaceful. I gently laid the blanket I was holding on top of them and went back to Fang.

"She's already asleep," I whispered to him. "She was crying. I feel so sorry for her. What she's going through is worse that happened to me. At least the time in Dr. Hans's office was short. And I knew that you were okay when you were gone. She has to stay here in this hospital room, watching him when she can't do anything about the fact that he's on the brink of death. She has to watch him suffer."

"I know," Fang whispered back. "I wish I could help, too. But there's nothing we can do to help Matt. It's best to let the doctors handle it."

"You're right. I just feel so sorry that she has to go through this."


	78. Chapter 78

78

My eyes fluttered open and I immediately became aware of Fang. He was still asleep, but had me pulled tightly into him. His arms were wrapped tightly around my waist and his face was right next to mine. I woke him up with a kiss and he smiled. I spun around and he pulled me closer. For a few minutes we just lay there, listening to each other's breath. I eventually got up and looked around. Everyone was accounted for. I walked around the hospital bed to check on Caroline. She had fallen asleep with her hand gently wrapped around Matt's and Fluffy in her lap. It must be terrible for her to even look at Matt. His chest was wrapped in cloth bandages and his arms were covered in stitches. A small tube pumping out oxygen ran into his mouth and down into his lungs, keeping him breathing. It was a truly horrifying sight. Caroline started to tremble in her sleep. She was having a dream, or more like a nightmare. "Matt," she whispered. "Matt, please. Don't go; I need you here with me. I love you." She started to cry and I felt a pang of guilt. It's my fault. I was the reason Matt was in here now. If I hadn't fallen asleep the night we were kidnapped, I could've fought them off. It's my job to protect them! It's my responsibility. It's all my fault. It's my fault that Caroline is laying here, holding Matt's limp hand, crying in her sleep.

Fang saw my face and realized there was something wrong. He cam over and wrapped his arms around my waist. He whispered in my ear, "What's wrong?"

"It's all my fault, Fang. Everything. It's my fault we got into that trap. If I had stayed awake, I could've fought them off. My fault what happened to Matt. My fault Caroline is sitting here, half-heartbroken, crying in her sleep!" My voice became a high whisper as I spoke. I realized and lowered my voice. "You would all just be better off without me."

"Max, don't talk like that," Fang said sternly, spinning me around to face him. "You're scaring me. What are you considering?"

"I'm not considering leaving. You know how I couldn't live without you."

"Max, I know what you're thinking. Don't do that," an edge of panic in his voice. I looked away to avoid his gaze, not answering. "You know you can't do that."

"What's stopping me?" I said, which wasn't the best idea. Fang's eyes went wide. He stood in shock for a second before responding.

"If _you_ do, then _I_ do."

"Fang, please don't. You'd need to take care of everyone once I'm gone."

"Max, you would do that to me? Do you have any idea what impact that would have on me?"

The argument would've kept going except for the fact that Angel woke up then. I could see she was scared by the look in her eyes.

"You guys aren't really thinking about-" she started.

"No, sweetie. We won't. I'm sorry if we scared you. Go back to sleep, it's still early." I said comfortingly, hoping she wasn't reading my mind.

Fang's POV

Angle put her head down back on her pillow and pretended to go back to sleep. Moments later, her voice popped into Fang's head.

_She's lying,_ Angel warned.

Fang was starting to panic. Max wanted to commit suicide.


	79. Chapter 79

79

"I'm sorry, Fang. It's just a thought," I said, trying to calm him down. He'd gotten really worked up when I'd thought of suicide. He knows I would always do what's best for the flock. If me gone is the best option, then that's what I would do.

"Yeah, a thought of _killing yourself!_ Max, I'm serious. Please, never scare me like that again," he said.

"I won't. I promise," I replied, trying to sound sincere. I put my hands on his shoulders and pulled myself up to kiss him. In the past few years he'd gotten a lot taller than me. He softened up after that but still wouldn't let me out of his sight. I decided to push it out of my mind, since Angel was probably reading my thoughts. I really shouldn't consider it. I don't know.

Caroline's POV

Caroline woke up from her sleep holding Fluffy. Fluffy was still asleep in her arms, and a little tip of her tongue was hanging out of her mouth. Caroline got up and looked over at Matt. She quickly looked away; it was too painful to see him. She went around the bed and saw Max sitting on the floor against the wall. She was spinning a small, long object in her hands. Caroline walked closer and recognized it as a pocketknife.

Max's POV

I sit by the wall in the hospital room. It's just Caroline and me. Everyone else went downstairs to get something to eat. I offered to stay with Caroline in case she wakes up. I didn't want her to wake up alone. She needs company.

I'm sitting on the floor with my back against the wall, waiting for her to wake up. I spin my pocketknife in my fingers while I contemplate the recent events. _ I could so easily just use this knife and solve my problems. The flock would be better off, except for Fang..._ I think as I look at the vein in my wrist. I open the knife, and ever so lightly touch it to my wrist. I consider pressing it down harder when I hear a voice above me.

"Max? Are you okay?" I hear. It's Caroline. I quickly snap the knife closed, but it catches a small bit of my wrist. The cut didn't hit the major vein; it was about twice the size of a paper cut.

"I'm fine," I say as I press my wrist against my jeans. hiding the cut. "Come on, everyone else is downstairs getting something to eat. Let's go."

She nodded and followed me out the door. We met up with the others in the cafeteria and sit down. I sit next to Fang and Caroline sits next to Hayley. For about five minutes, all you can hear is the sound of plastic forks and knives scraping against paper plates. Everyone was too hungry to talk. Once we were done, Gazzy sat back and let out a burp that lasted a good five seconds. We all burst out laughing, and I put my hands over my eyes, but couldn't help laughing with the others. Then I felt a pinch at my wrist, and the cut opened up, but was twice as long.

"Ouch," I whispered. I held my wrist. The blood seeped though my fingers and Fang saw. Fang looked at me, pure anger on his face. I looked up and shrunk a little. The flock all stopped laughing and looked at us, completely silent. Fang and I had our eyes locked. It was like a game of cat-and-mouse, and Fang was definitely the cat.

Fang gripped my arm and pulled me up. He dragged me out of the cafeteria and into the hallway. Once we were in the hallway, I jerked out of his grip and crossed my arms, looking sideways.

"Max, why is there a cut on your wrist? We haven't been fighting in a week, so don't give me that," he said. I stayed silent, still avoiding his gaze. "Max!"

"It was an accident, okay? Fang, I'm _not_ going to kill myself!" I snapped. "But now you have a small grip on what you put me through! You've just_ started_ to realize what life would be like apart!" I realized I'd said too much and shut up again. I went back to avoiding his gaze. I thought he was going to punch me in the arm, slap me, or at least use his favorite line, "Max, it wasn't like that." but instead he surprised me. He pulled me into his grip and put one hand on the back of my head. He pulled me so close there wasn't enough room for even a piece of paper, and kissed me. When he pulled away, I buried my face in his chest and he kept his hand on my head. My head fit right under his chin and he played with my hair.

I whispered, "I thought you were going to murder me. Why did you do that?"

"It felt right. I haven't really kissed you in a long time. I've felt like something was wrong ever since I came back," He whispered back. "I'm sorry I ever left you. You know you're my world, and it was misery without you. I'm so sorry, and I'd understand if you never forgive me."

"It's alright. And I won't leave you. Promise."


	80. Chapter 80

80

I put all thoughts of suicide behind me. I figured if the flock didn't need me, Angel would tell me.

We all sort of scattered after eating and went to explore the hospital. I figured we should know what's here if we were going to be staying for a while. Fang and I went together. So did Gazzy and Iggy, and Nudge and Angel. You know, the normal groups. Hayley and Jake went together, also. Caroline decided to wander off alone.

Caroline's POV

Caroline was walking through the hospital, holding her jacket closer to her. When she turned a corner, she overheard two female doctors talking. One had blonde hair and the other brown. Caroline followed them as they walked down the hall.

"...Hear about that group of teenagers?" the blonde said.

"Yeah. It's a shame. The kid was attacked by... was it a bear or a wolf? Something like that," the brunette said.

"Yeah. I saw the boy. He's pretty chopped up, but _really_ hot."

"And sixteen," the brunette added pointedly.

"Four years isn't that big of an age gap."

"Don't bother, anyway. Kids got, like, a week to live."

"Good point. Shame the doctors can't figure out what's wrong with him."

"You're still thinking about his abs, aren't you?"

"Maybe," the blonde muttered as they turned another corner out of earshot.

Caroline's breath got short and her chest grew tight. _A week?_

_"_Oh, gods," Caroline whispered and pressed her hand over her heart. Tears fell from her eyes and blurred her vision. Caroline turned back around and took off through the halls. She ran past Hayley and Jake, who were making their way back to the room. Jake's arm was around Hayley's shoulders. Seeing them only sent a pang of envy through Caroline.

After also passing Max and Fang in a hallway, Caroline ran through the hospital's front doors. It was raining outside and the sky was dark. Caroline collapsed with her back to the wall. Within seconds, her tears mixed with the rainwater and she was drenched from head-to-toe. She curled up and was shaking from bated breaths.

She should have heard the heels on the cold concrete. She should have heard the deadly _click_ of the gun cocking. She should have run when she had the chance. But she didn't.

Instead, she looked up to see Blaze standing over her, a pistol in his hands. In other circumstances, she would have been scared. Instead, she looked up into his cold, green eyes and choked out two shaky words.

"Kill me," she whispered.

"Oh, don't worry," Blaze replied in a horrifically mocking tone. "I have bigger plans that that."

Then Blaze hit Caroline in the side of her head with the gun, knocking her out.


	81. Chapter 81

81

_That can't be good,_ I thought as Caroline rushed by. She ran outside and just as I was about to follow her, Hayley and Jake rounded the corner.

"Max! Fang! Do you guys have any idea what's wrong?" Hayley asked.

"No. I just saw her run that way. Come on," I said and ran. I followed Caroline where she was headed and ended up in the pouring rain in the front of the hospital.

"Oh, gods," Hayley whispered. She buried her head in Jake's shoulder. I didn't blame her.

Although it was pouring, the rain hadn't yet washed away the puddle of blood on the concrete. I felt ice in my veins as I thought of what might have happened.

"We need to go get the others," I said. "Meet me back in the hospital room in five minutes."

Five minutes later, we were all gathered in Matt's hospital room as I told the others what we'd found.

"Here's the thing," I said. "I need Angel, Nudge, Gazzy, and Iggy to stay here. This is something the four of us need to do," Before they could protest, I added, "I need you four to stay here with Matt."

To my surprise, they agreed.

"Alright, we need to get going. Let's head out."

I gave everyone else a hug goodbye and left Iggy in charge. I all but ran out of the door. I felt terrible. Caroline had been my responsibility and I let her get _kidnapped!_ I was so careless, so stupid!

When we got outside, Fang and I didn't fly because of Hayley and Jake. We bolted towards the forest and kept at it until the sun went down. We made a small camp at a dry spot in between the trees and I took watch.

I waited until everyone else fell asleep and started to look around. After a while, I decided to fly up and see what I could to get a better view of our surroundings. I caught sight of the top of a building in the middle of the forest. We'd just come back from there. That's where I needed to go.

I flew down and thought for a second. Then I grabbed Fangs backpack and took out his notebook and a pen. He always had it with him to write down blog posts whenever he didn't have the computer.

I tore out a piece of paper from it and wrote a quick note. Then I folded it in half and wrote _Fang_ on the front of it. Before turning to leave, I gave Fang a kiss on his forehead and tucked the note in his arms. I glanced back and then took off. I was headed towards the building in the distance.

Fang's POV

When Fang woke up, he found a note in his hands with his name on it in Max's familiar handwriting.

"Hayley, Jake," He whispered. "Get up."

They both woke up, already alert.

"What's wrong? Is the forest on fire?" Jake asked.

"No, Max left this..." Fang said. He was reluctant to open it, afraid of what he might find inside.

"What's it say?" Hayley asked.

Fang still didn't want to open it, but he wasn't a coward. He opened it up and read it.

_Dear Fang,_

_I'm sorry, but I have to do this on my own. I got everyone into this mess, and I'm going to get us out. It's my fault and you or the others shouldn't have to get hurt for my mistakes. I'll be back with Caroline in a week, tops. I'll meet you all back at the hospital. I want you to take Hayley and Jake back there immediately and wait with the others there. _

_In the event that I don't come back, please let the flock know that I love them, and to carry on without me._

_And Fang, If I don't come back, no that I love you more that anyone could ever imagine, and know that I need you more than air. If I never see you again, know that I'll miss our midnight flies together, and watching the sunset with you. I'll miss fighting by your side. I'll miss your comforting hugs that make the world seem better even if it's falling apart, your smiles that make everything brighter, and your kiss that makes me feel like I can fly without wings._

_I love you,_

_Maximum Ride_

"Max... left. She went to fight on her own," Fang said, his voice empty. "I think... she isn't planning to make it out alive."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: I am SO sorry that I've put this off for so long! I feel horrible! Don't hurt me! But in all honesty, I kind of just forgot... I'm going to try to aim low and just see how far above the bar I can shoot. My goal is to update every one of my fanfics at least once a month, and just up that when I feel I can. And if you want to read some original work of mine, I have a FictionPress account with the same name, so that's there. Thank you to all that reviewed and encouraged me to write more! This chapter would never have happened without you! See you in a month!<strong>


	82. Chapter 82

82

I flew to the building and landed perched in a tree for hiding. I looked at the front entrance and realized something new that I hadn't when I was running for my life the last time I was here. Huh. Funny how some things just go unnoticed when your life is in danger.

There was a sign above the door carved in white marble. It read _The University for Mental Research_. Under that in smaller letters was carved _Face your fears. Overcome your weaknesses._

No wonder they had us face our fears. I realized there were no guards. I've actually never seen a worker here. Kind of weird.

I flew down with caution. I stood at the entrance and spun around to make sure no one was sneaking up on me. I must have turned around for just a second, but when I turned back around, I had a sinking feeling I was being watched. I slowly looked up and gasped at what I saw.

A beast resembling a twisted gargoyle latched onto the granite sign above me. It had a white face that looked like a dead clowns. It had wings on its back that had half the feathers gone. Its eyes were yellow instead of white and the irises were blood red.

I looked into the eyes of the beast and felt ice and heat run through me at the same time. I couldn't even move. All I could do was let out a strangled cry before it jumped.

[Beast ]

Fang's POV

Fang flew just above the trees as Hayley and Jake ran underneath the canopy. He watched them to stay together. Flying alone, Fang had time to think. _Max, what in the world have you gotten yourself into now?_

But his thoughts were interrupted by a muffled scream. It was barely audible, but he just heard it. And he recognized the voice.

Fang sped up, aiming for the building. He landed on the roof and heard the sound of the door shut. He jumped down to the ground and ripped the door open. He ran in, and found himself in a familiar long, white hallway.

It was completely empty except for the white table. As before, there was a note on the table, this one addressed to Fang. He slowly and cautiously picked up the folded piece of paper and opened it.

_Hello, Fang._

_You have come here following Max, who is in turn following Caroline. I can assure you that none will be killed. That is, unless you don't play the game by our rules. Walk down the hall to your right and open the door at the end. Proceed through. Look for other notes, and follow all instructions. Failing to do so will result in a tragic misfortune for your friends. _

Fang folded the paper and put it in his back pocket. He walked down the hall to his right. He grabbed the doorknob and fear struck him as he thought of what he might find.

He tried his best to push that out of his mind and turned the knob, ripping the door open and almost off it's hinges.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it? At <em>least<em> a year, right? I just remembered that I still had a few chapters left on my computer, and wanted to release them for you guys. I hope there are still people reading! I plan to release all the chapters I have so far, and then finish the story. I'll post a new chapter once a week, so keep checking back and subscribe!

And if you're still reading, especially from the beginning, review and tell me! I'd love to hear it!

-write on-  
>Is<p> 


	83. Chapter 83

83

Fang's POV

Fang stepped into the room and looked around, taking in his surroundings. It was another white room, but this one was dimly lit with a single table in the middle. Fang walked up to the table, and the lighting in the room switched. The only light became a small, blinding spotlight that shone on Fang and illuminated the table. Fang saw what lay on the table and his breath stopped short. There in front of him lay a note that Fang picked up and read.

_Time is ticking,_

_two hands go by._

_One lover tied,_

_the other flying high._

_As the bell tolls the sixth time,_

_she screams her lover's name,_

_her final breath drawn in vain._

Next to the note lay a necklace with a black cord and glass and feather charms framing a snake-jaw pendant. Fang reached around his neck and pulled up his own necklace Angel had given him what seemed like an eternity ago. He held the necklace on the table up to his own. A perfect fit. _Max._

Fang sunk to the floor and put his head on the side of the table. What could he do? The riddle was obviously a clue to where Max was, but _she_ was always the one that was good at riddles. He decided to go through it line by line.

_Time is ticking,_

"It could easily refer to a time limit, or just telling me to hurry the heck up," Fang said aloud.

_Two hands go by._

"Put with the first line," He said, now pacing the room like a lion in a cage. "It could mean... a clock?"

_One lover tied,_

"Max."

_The other flying high._

"Me."

_As the bell tolls the sixth time,_

"This could mean... bell... a bell tower... with a clock! That means Max would be tied up at the top of bell tower. Oh gods. And six... six o'clock."

_She screams her lover's name,_

"Kind of self-explanatory..."

_Her final breath drawn in vain._

"They're going to... kill her," he choked out. "But where am I going to find a bell tower?"

As if on a timer, a patch of tile in the far wall fell to the floor revealing a dark tunnel. Fang put the clue in his pocket along with the other note and held Max's necklace in one hand. Fang took a deep breath and swung his feet into the tiny tunnel.

He crossed his arm over his chest as he slid down. What felt like five minutes later, Fang's feet hit concrete and he fell in a crouched position out of the tunnel. Looking around, Fang was surprised at what he saw.

An entire city was built underground. Of course, clear on the other side of the city was a tall, old-fashioned clock tower. Fang considered flying across, but the "sky" was too low for him to go without hitting a building every two seconds.

That left ground travel. It was already five o'clock. It would take too long to cross the city on foot. It was around twenty miles. Fang was looking around for an idea when his gaze set on a shiny black motorcycle. The owner had just parked it ad he'd dropped the key on the sidewalk as he'd tried to put them in his pocket. The black helmet was resting perfectly on the seat of the bike. It was just sitting there, waiting for Fang to take it. Fang knew it wasn't exactly right to steal, but it never really bothered him before, so he grabbed the keys off the ground and pulled the helmet over his head. He hopped on the bike and jammed the key into the ignition. He pushed down the kick-start and was off. _I'm coming for you, Max._

With that, Fang was off, racing through the city. He wove through crowds of people on the streets and once jumped a line of cars. In about half an hour, Fang had made it across the city to the bell tower. He took the helmet off and stuffed the keys in his pocket. In seconds, he was in a full-on dash towards the doors. He pushed them open and looked around for the nearest staircase. When he found it, he raced to his left and ran up the stairs. Fang opened the door at the top and ran through it. It was a spiral staircase that wound all the way up to the top of the tower.

Fang flew up the spiral staircase and slammed through the trap door at the top. He looked around, studying his surroundings. He found himself in a small room where each wall was the inside of a clock face. Gears were everywhere and above Fang hung a gigantic brass bell. He quickly understood he must be inside the top of the clock tower. Looking for a way out of the room, Fang found a small door on the side of one of the clock faces. He yanked it open and ran through. He stepped back when he realized the edge was only two feet out. He ran around the thin catwalk until he found Max. She was strapped to a wooden chair and had a gag in her mouth. The chair was tied by a rope to a hook on the clock face. The rope would snap when the hour hand reached the six, causing Max to fall. The chair was tipped over the edge just enough so that Max would be forced to look down the entire time. "I'm going to get you out of this, I promise," Fang whispered. Careful to keep Max safe, Fang slipped the rope off and brought her onto the platform. He untied her with one quick slash to the back of the chair, cutting her free. He slipped off the gag and threw it aside with the rope. Max sat stone still in the chair. The only sign she was alive was the jagged rise and fall of her chest as she breathed heavily. " Max! Max, are you okay? Max, are you hurt?" Fang said, extremely worried. " Y-yeah, I'm f-fine," she replied shakily. A moment later, she burst into tears, wrapping her arms around Fang and burying her face in his soft shirt. "Oh god, I was going to die," she choked out between sobs. "I was so scared I thought I was going to fall that." Fang wrapped his arms around Max and rubbed her back. "It's okay, I'd never let that happen to you. I love you, Max, and I'll always be here for you."


	84. Chapter 84

84

"I'm sorry," I said, pulling away slightly.

"There's no need to apologize. It's not your fault," Fang said.

"We need to go find Caroline, anyway," I said, steadying my breathing now. "Do you have any idea where she might be?"

"I'm not sure. I think she might be above ground. Oh, and one more thing," Fang reached into his pocket and pull out the necklace Angel had given me at our birthday party. The one that matches his. He held it up and gently put it on my neck.

"Thanks," I said smiling. "So, anyway, where's the opening to the real world?"

"It's on the other side of town. Come on, let's get down."

We ran inside the clock tower and down the spiral steps. Once we were out in front of the tower, Fang led me to a motorcycle out in the front. He tossed me a helmet.

"Hop on," he said as he got on the motorcycle. I strapped the helmet on and did as he told me.

"Do you even know how to drive this thing?" I asked as I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Sort of," he replied. "I kind of figured it out on the way here." With that, the engine started and we were racing across the city.

Fang took me into an alleyway and there was a gigantic metal pipe sort of thing leading up at the end of it.

"Let's fly," Fang said and jumped into the pipe. I followed and we ended up in a room with dim lighting and no furniture except for a single table in the middle of the room. There was a note on the table and fang picked it up and read it.

Fang's POV

Fang picked up the note and read it.

_Congratulations. You have passed the first test. _

_The second phase lies ahead of you._

_Into the forest, a peaceful clearing._

_Graceful blue flowers, and green climbing vines._

_Chains and blood, surrounding the girl._

_Broken and beat up, barely hope in her eyes._

_Your task is to save her, from her demise._

"We need to go into the forest. Caroline is there," Fang spoke. "Do you think you can get there okay?"

I nodded and we made or way through the maze of the building.


	85. Chapter 85

85

After flying over the forest for a while, we spotted blue flowers. Fang landed and I followed him down.

"Blue flowers," He whispered. They seemed to make a path into the trees, so we followed it. Weaving through the trees, the flowers eventually led us to a clearing.

As we stepped into the clearing, Fang stopped short and I gasped when at what I saw.

Caroline lay against a tree across the clearing, her eyes closed. Her wrists had chains on them that led to behind the tree. She was surrounded with blood-spattered blue flowers and she was covered in cuts. Her crystal-blue eyes flashed open and glared at us, but she didn't move. Out from behind the tree Caroline was up against came none other than Blaze, who removed her shackles.

I glared at him angrily but he just wore a smirk that angered me more. I switched my gaze to a friendlier look towards Caroline.

"Come on, let's take you home," I said to her. She stood up and spoke.

"I'm not going with you," her answer caught me off guard. Blaze's smirk widened and he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. "I'm in love with Blaze."

I felt my stomach drop as she spoke, her words hollow.

"No!" I screamed. "That's not how it works! Your boyfriend is in the hospital; you can't just abandon him! You love him and he loves you. That isn't something you just throw away!"

She gave me a confused look. "What are you talking about? I don't have a boyfriend in the hospital. Blaze is the only one who loves me."

It all made sense now.

"You dirty rat!" I screamed at Blaze. "This is low, even for you. Hatred is nothing to fuel off of! Letting it cloud your decisions is a horrible thing to do."

"Yeah?" he spat back, moving away from Caroline. "Well so is leaving someone behind! I didn't deserve to be left there."

"But she isn't the one who left," I said, almost begging. "It's Matt you're mad at, not Caroline. She's innocent, and she doesn't deserve to be caught in the crossfire."

"You know what? I don't give a d***!" he screamed, pulling out a handgun. "She dies now!"

Blaze dug the gun into Caroline's temple and she closed her eyes and trembled in fear.

"Wait! Don't shoot!" a voice from behind me shouted. I turned to see Hayley and Jake running towards us. Jake was the one who had shouted. At that exact moment, all hell broke loose. Caroline broke free of Blaze's grasp and ran behind Fang. Hayley turned to Jake and grabbed the collar of his shirt. She pulled him into one last passionate kiss and whispered something in his ear before running towards Blaze.

"Run!" she yelled as she tackled him. We all did as we were told and ran towards the hospital. I heard the unmistakable crack of a gunshot and prayed to whatever god there was that it hadn't hit her.

Back at the hospital, we all gathered in Matt's room while he was in another surgery. "I can't believe Hayley sacrificed herself for us," I said, thinking out loud.

"She didn't," Jake replied almost bitterly. I gave him a quizzical look. "After she kissed me, she whispered something in my ear. She told me 'I don't want his life,' and then she went to face Blaze. It was suicide, not sacrifice. She was never happy."

The new information shocked me. I guess I didn't spend enough time with her to really see if she was happy or not.

"It makes sense," Caroline said. "When we traveled together, she would say she didn't want the life she had. I sort of figured she would be the cause of her death."

Just then, a nurse walked in and said, "May I have the closest one to Matt please come with me?"

Caroline got up and, after giving me a look of fear and uncertainty, she followed the nurse out of the room.


	86. Chapter 86

86

Caroline's POV

Caroline walked down the hallway behind the nurse. With one hand, she held the opposite arm out of nervousness. When the nurse stopped, they were in front of an intensive care room. Caroline knew what it was for. It was used for patients that just had surgery and needed to be watched more closely in case their operation backfired. _Oh, god, what if it backfired-_ Caroline quickly pushed the thought out of her mind and followed the nurse into the room.

On the left side of the room lay Matt, tucked into a hospital bed. He had an IV in his left wrist and a few censors hooked up to his bare chest, but all of the tubes to help him breathe were gone. By the time Matt slowly turned his head to see who had come in, Caroline was already at the bedside. Matt gave her a weak but genuine smile that told Caroline that he was happy to see her, but still in pain from the surgery.

"I'll give you two some time alone. Come get me in the hallway if something happens," the nurse said, and with that, she left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Caroline immediately fell to her knees and clutched Matt's right hand to the hollow of her throat. No matter how hard she fought, she couldn't keep back the tears that fell from her eyes. Matt was immediately concerned.

"What's wrong?" he asked wishing he could hold her in his arms without the wires getting in the way.

"I almost lost you. I was so scared. And then, I-I, and Blaze, and Hayley," Caroline stuttered between sobs.

"Shh. It's alright; I'm here now. Shh. Now calm down and tell me what happened," Matt said caringly, like a parent talking to a crying child. Caroline took a deep breath and recalled all the tales of what had happened since Matt had been in the hospital.

"And you're sure she's dead?" Matt asked when Caroline had finished.

"Well, no, not exactly. We just heard a gunshot, but we didn't see anything. We just thought..." her voice trailed off.

"God, Jake must be crushed. I'll talk to him so- ah," Matt let out a wince in pain. "Send the nurse in, please. The pain medication is starting to wear off. Unfortunately, getting a new dose means that I'll be under for twenty minutes or so, so I'll have the nurse send everyone in once I'm up again."

"Sure. And one more thing," Caroline said as she got up off the end of the bed where she had moved to when she calmed down. Caroline swiftly slid her hand under Matt's head and raised it ever so slightly so their lips met. She held the kiss for a few seconds until she noticed the heart monitor start to beep faster. When they broke apart, it went back to normal. Caroline smiled and whispered in Matt's ear, "I love you."

"I love you, too. And I always will. Don't you forget that," Matt replied. Caroline smiled and walked out the door.

She was greeted by the nurse who she told about the pain medication.

"And, nurse?" Caroline asked cautiously. The nurse nodded and gave a comforting smile, "He'll be okay, right?"

"Yes," she responded, and Caroline let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "He should make a full recovery. He's very lucky; most people would never survive this kind of accident."

"Yes, I'm aware of that, ma'am. Thank you."

Max's POV

The door opened quietly and Caroline came back in. Jake was the first to speak up. "So, what's the story?"

Caroline smiled and replied, "He's awake, and I talked to him. He's going to make a full recovery. You can't talk to him now, because he has to sleep for another twenty minutes while the pain medication sets in, but you can talk to him then."

Jake looked relieved.

"Yay! Daddy going to be okay!" piped up Fluffy from the floor next to Star. It was so cute, but Caroline seemed to be caught off guard by her calling Matt her father. Caroline quickly snapped out of it and picked up Fluffy.

"Yeah, Daddy's going to be just fine," Caroline said, holding Fluffy close.

"I love you, Mommy," Fluffy replied.

"I love you, too, Sweetheart," Caroline whispered to her.


	87. Chapter 87

87

Caroline's POV

"Mommy? Can I see Daddy now?" Fluffy asked, looking at Caroline with innocent Bambi eyes. Caroline couldn't help but smile as she kissed Fluffy's forehead.

"Why don't we all go see him?" Max said and everyone seemed to agree, "I mean, it's been a while since we've had some good news around here. And four hours is enough for him to rest."

With that, Caroline led everyone out the door to Matt's hospital room. As she walked, still holding Fluffy in her arms, she could keep the same thought from running through her head over and over. _Things are looking up, finally._

Caroline walked through the door to see the nurse from a few hours ago in the room taking the last of the IVs out. Matt smiled at his friends when he saw them in the doorway.

"Well, it looks like you have a wake-up party," the nurse said when she saw the doorway. She turned to the door and spoke again, "I was just getting him ready to move back into his other room. He woke up a few minutes ago."

Matt swung his legs over the side of the stark white hospital bed and then stood up tentatively. He stood up straight, stretching his back. He stretched his neck quickly and rolled his shoulders.

The nurse herded everyone out of the room and into the first hospital room. Caroline and Matt sat down on the hospital bed while everyone else found a seat around the room.

"We just want to keep him here for tonight and you can leave in the morning after a quick check-up," the nurse said and smiled sweetly before leaving the room.

"Daddy!" Fluffy said as she squirmed in Caroline's arms, waving her little hands towards Matt. Matt took Fluffy from Caroline and shifted her to his side opposite Caroline so he could put his arm around Caroline's neck. In response, she moved closer and laced one arm across his back, careful not the hurt him. Matt was just in a pair of blue hospital pants, so his scars were visible on his torso. The ugly pink marks where all over his arms and sides. They formed Xs on his back and chest, reminders of past pain. Caroline looked down at her feet to avoid seeing the painful marks. She closed her eyes to keep her tears from spilling.

Matt realized this and gave her shoulder a light squeeze as he looked down at her with kind eyes. Caroline looked up and tears met kindness. She pulled her other arm around his torso and buried her face in his chest in a failing attempt to hide the tears spilling from her eyes.

"I'm really sorry," she said, looking up at him again.

"Don't be," he replied, wiping the tears from Caroline's face, "None of this was you're fault. There's nothing you could've done to prevent what happened. It's all in the past now and that's all that matters."

"You're right," Caroline said, steadying her breathing.

"So, Matt?" Max said, avoiding any awkward silence, "Do you feel ready to leave?"

"Definitely," he replied. "I feel fine. Plus I'm _so_ sick of this hospital. It's nice and all, but I want to get out of here."

"Well, I'm glad you feel better, bro," Jake said, giving Matt a halfhearted smile. Matt easily saw through it to the pain in his eyes.

Max's POV

The next day, after Matt had his check-up and was allowed to leave, we all stood at the front desk checking Matt out of the dreaded place.

"Thank you, you all be careful now. Everything's been paid for by your parents," the receptionist told me.

"My parents? When did they come in?" I asked, curious.

"Well, a few days ago, a woman came in saying she was your mother and paid for everything. It's all taken care of," she informed me.

"Thanks," I said and walked away. We all walked out of the automatic sliding glass doors and made our way to the lone road out of the small town. There wasn't a car in sight, so we walked along the side of the road. It was a flat prairie-looking land with knee-high grass on either side of the road for a while. It was a bit chilly outside, so I was glad for the jackets we all had.

Fang walked beside me, giving me comfort just by being there. I reached out and took his hand in mine, squeezing it quickly. When he felt this, he gave me a small smile and squeezed back.

"I love you, and I want to be there for you and with you. Forever and always," he said, whispering it so only I could hear.

I smiled at him and repeated, "Forever and always."

Matt's POV

Matt walked alongside Jake. Jake held Star on his hip and was silent.

"Are you okay, man?" Matt said to him, "Caroline told me what happened with..."

"Yeah, it's just a bit of a shock. I thought she loved me, but anyone who can do that to themselves, they just can't know how to love. Do you get what I mean?" he replied slowly.

"Yeah, I understand. I'm really sorry. But I know you're a tough guy, and you'll get through it."

"Thanks," Jake said, smiling a bit, "You know you're like a brother to me, right?"

"The feeling is mutual, brother," Matt said cracking a small smile.

"Now go and talk to Caroline. It's never polite to leave a girl lonely," Jake said joking around. Matt smirked and fell back to where Caroline was walking.

Caroline's POV

Matt walked over to Caroline and gently took a sleeping Fluffy from her arms. Holding the sleeping little girl with one arm, he used his free hand to hold Caroline's hand and lace their fingers together.

"You're a great mother to her," Matt whispered. He quickly unlaced his hand from hers and reached into the pocket of his new jeans that the hospital had given him, along with a shirt and jacket. He pulled out a little black box and got down on one knee. Matt skillfully opened the box with one hand and held it up to Caroline. Looking her straight in the eyes, he spoke.

"Caroline, I love you, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life. This is a promise ring, and I promise I'll marry you and stay with you until the day I die."

Caroline was speechless. Her eyes kept going from Matt's passionate face awaiting an answer to the sparkling ring he was holding. It was a silver band with a sapphire the color of her eyes set in the middle. The whole group was looking at them now, curious of Caroline's answer. Max instinctively grazed her fingers over the gold promise ring on her left hand and recalled when Fang had given it to her.

"Yes," Caroline said, snapping out of her shock, "Yes, of course I'll spend the rest of my life with you. I love you, too, Matt."

Matt got up off his knee and slipped the ring on Caroline's left hand. Everyone started to walk again and Matt re-laced his fingers with Caroline's.

Caroline couldn't stop smiling and kept looking at her left hand, almost as if she didn't believe that could possibly have happened.


	88. Chapter 88

88

As we all walked along the lone road, I held hands with Fang, and Caroline held hands with Matt, who was still holding Fluffy. Nudge, Iggy and Gazzy were holding hands, and something told me that Nudge had made that happen. As I turn my head to look over my shoulder at them, I realized that although we've all been through a lot, we all still are capable of and know how to love and be compassionate. Which is actually a bit of a big deal. A lot of people would probably be really messed up if they went through what we'd done, not that we weren't messed up. They'd just probably be even more messed up.

Jake's POV

Jake looked around at everyone holding hands, and looked down at his own hand where Hayley's fingers used to fit snugly. His gaze changed when Angel started to walk beside him and looked up at him with innocent blue eyes.

"Don't worry, Jake," she said softly, "You and Hayley just weren't meant for each other. You'll find someone for you in time."

"Thanks," Jake said, and gave Angel his first genuine smile ever since Hayley committed suicide. He stretched his hand out to her and she took his hand in her smaller one. Jake took a deep breath and started to feel better, finally. He looked down at the beautiful baby in his arms as she stirred in her sleep. He had Star and he had his family with him, and that was all he needed at the moment.

Max's POV

When we reached another small town along the road, it was close to nightfall and we were all pretty tired, so we decided to call it a night and checked into a small hotel called the Foxden Inn. The frail elderly woman at the front desk looked back at everyone when I asked for two rooms, and handed me four room keys.

"It's all on the house," she said, "There's no way you can fit all of you in two rooms."

"Thank you so much, ma' am," I said before turning back to the group and gave out the room keys. Nudge, Angel, and Star were in the first room (they'd begged Jake to let them stay with Star for the night),

Jake, Gazzy, and Iggy were in the second room, I was with Fang in the fourth room, and Caroline and Matt were in the last room with Fluffy.

After we got everyone else in their rooms, Fang and I walked into our room. It was a very homely hotel. The walls had a tan old-fashioned floral pattern wallpaper and the bedspread was similar. Fang and I fell back onto the queen-sized bed and Fang wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close. I looked over at him and gave him a look that said, _try anything and you won't see morning._ He rolled his eyes at me and whispered in my ear.

"Good night, Max," he said and left a kiss on my cheek. Soon after that, we were both sound asleep.

Caroline's POV

After using some extra pillows and blankets to make a sort of nest on the small sofa in the room for Fluffy, Caroline laid down next to Matt on their bed.

"She's mine, you know," Caroline said, looking at Fluffy. Matt looked at her questioningly. "When I was in the School, they wanted to try to... to create another experiment from an existing one, and I was somewhere between twelve and thirteen, so they..."

Caroline pulled up her shirt a bit to show Matt the horizontal scar that ran across her stomach. She gave a further explanation, "It's just the one scar, but they opened it dozens of times. I had my first kid at thirteen," she smirked. "I'm glad I have her, though. But I just would've done it differently if I'd had the choice, had her later in life. And with someone I love..."

"I love you," Matt said and shifted himself over her so that he was looking down on her. Caroline's heart started to race as she looked up into his deep blue eyes.

"I love you, too," she replied as her breathing quickened. Matt's lips were on his and they were locked in a tight embrace.

Max's POV

The next morning, I woke up to Fang's slow breathing on my neck. I turned my head ever so slightly to look at his sleeping face. I gave him a small kiss and his eyes shot open.

"Good morning," I said as I broke the kiss and sat up. Fang mumbled a "good morning" back to me as I got out of the bed and started to wash up.

Five minutes later, Fang and I were in the hall giving wake-up calls to everyone. Jake walked out of the boys' room at the same time Nudge and Angel walked out of their room, Angel carrying Star.

"She slept really soundly," Angel said as she handed Star to Jake. Jake uttered thanks to her and looked down at the smiling baby in his arms. He couldn't help but smile back.

Soon, Gazzy and Iggy were up and Caroline and Matt came out with Fluffy soon after. Once we checked out, we started to wander around the small town for a good place to eat.

"Hey, guys! Look at this!" Jake said, picking up a newspaper on a rack outside of a store. He handed the paper to me and I read the headline of the front-page article. My eyes widened and I couldn't speak. I read it over and over to make sure it was really there.

"'Secret Lab Performing Illegal Human Tests Exposed'," Nudge read out loud. We took the newspaper into a nearby restaurant and all ate as I read the article.

_Recently, the government has exposed an illegal ring of laboratories performing experiments on humans. Over 5,000 scientists have been taken into custody of the government. Two of the heads of these illegal laboratories that were taken into custody include Dr. Jeb Batchelder, a suspect for a few years, and Dr. Hans Günter-Hagen, the CEO of a world-renown company in the medical industry that is famous for its generous donations of medical supplies to countries and areas in need. _

_Over 15,000 experiments have been discovered in the searched of these labs. Only about 5,000 of these experiments were living when they were discovered. A soldier that took part in one of the lab searches told reporters, "There were rooms of dog crates stacked to the ceiling with the experiments in them. Most of the experiments resembled human children, and they all looked horribly malnourished. It was sick, and that's coming from a man whose seen battle."_

_The 5,000 living experiments have been taken into the governments care until further notice._

"I think..." I said slowly. "I think they finally shut down all of the schools. I think we're... free."

"No more pain," Angel said.

"No more horrible injections," Iggy added.

"No more fear," Gazzy chimed in.

"No more dog crates," Nudge noted.

"No more running," Fang put in.

"We can... go home," I finished.

Just then, the bells at the door chimed and I looked to see who came in.

"Mom!" I said getting up and running towards her.

"Oh, sweetie," she said, hugging me, "Jeb had been arrested, and I tried to find you, and it's all just a big nightmare."

"We know about Jeb. Look," I handed her the newspaper and she quickly read the article.

"So this is what happened. But there's one thing I wanted to ask you all," she said sweetly, just like her, "Will you all come home?"

"Yeah, it's safe to, now," I told her.

After a few hours in the car, we drove up the dirt road to the house, our home. As we walked into the house, I was almost tackled by Ella, who came rushing at us.

"I missed you, sis!" she said, hugging my tightly.

"I did, too, but... I'm going... to die... if you hug me... any longer!" I said and she let me go. "We're home, home for good."


	89. Chapter 89

89

"Wait," Matt said. We were having a flock meeting about what happens next. "What about Blaze and Patch? They're still out there."

Of course, we'd all overlooked that one important detail.

"Great," I muttered, my head in my hands.

"It's simple," Fang spoke up. "We find them, and we _end_ them."

Then Fang proceeded to put his fist in the middle of the circle and I stacked mine on top of his. One by one, everyone joined in. It reminded me that, no matter what happens, we're all still a family. No matter what.

"We can do this," I said, holding my head high now. "We've been through more, and fought worse. We can do this no problem."

I got murmurs of agreement from everyone.

"First off," Jake said, "We should patrol the woods around here. They know about this house, and they probably have figured out that we came here."

"That's a good point," I said. Time for the Invincible Max to take control. "Jake, Matt, and Caroline, I want you guys to patrol the north side. Nudge and Angel, I want you guys to take the west woods. Fly over and look for any sign they might have been here. Iggy and Gazzy, I want you guys to take the south end. Iggy, you go on foot to see if you can hear anything. Gazzy, fly circles over him just in case. Fang and I will patrol the east side. Let's go!"

Nudges POV

Nudge took off from the porch to the west with Angel, and started to fly over. Angel flew low, trying to see if she could hear anyone's thoughts. Nudge flew above her to get a higher view and make sure she didn't get ambushed.

Iggy's POV

Iggy took a running start off the porch and Gazzy took off into the air. Once he was in the woods, Ig would stop, listen, and when he heard nothing, run off further into the trees.

Matt's POV

Matt ran off the porch, transforming in the process. Jake and Caroline followed in suit. They ran off to the north, and stayed as silent as possible as they made their way through the maze of trees.

Max's POV

Fang and I took off to the east, flying as slowly as possible to get a good view of the trees. I jumped (If that's even possible to do while flying) and nearly fell out of the sky when I heard a blood-curdling scream.


	90. Chapter 90

90

Caroline's POV

The three wolves prowled through the forest as a small pack. Caroline was taking up the back and heard something move to her left in the trees. Her ear twitched in response but she kept on walking. She realized that this was a mistake a second later. She felt a sharp searing pain in her shoulder and screamed. She shifted, not being able to handle the pain, and fell to the ground on her hands and knees. She fell to her right so her hurt shoulder was up. In seconds, the entire shoulder of her white shirt was soaked in blood and her breathing became extremely shallow and ragged.

As soon as Matt heard the gunshot, he shifted and ran to Caroline. Jake followed quickly in suit.

"Caroline!" Matt yelled, running to her side. He grabbed the hand on her uninjured arm and squeezed tightly.

"Oh, God, that's a lot of blood," Jake said when he saw the wound.

"Jake, go get Fang or Max. Quickly!" Matt yelled, his voice clearly showing off his panic.

Jake's POV

Under any other circumstances, Jake would've said something about being ordered around, but it didn't even cross his mind at the time. He shifted and bounded out of the woods as fast as he could.

When he reached the border, he howled as loud as he could and suddenly saw Max and Fang fly over him and start to circle him. He quickly bounded back to Matt and Caroline and Max and Fang landed when Jake stopped.

Max's POV

"Oh, _God,_ what happened?" I said, my eyes no doubt wide.

"She got shot," Matt said, his voice shaking with desperation. "Please, help her."

Fang," I said, not wasting any time. "Help me get her up. Let's fly her to the house."

Fang wordlessly moved over to Caroline and scooped her up in his arms. "I'll take her. If two people carry her, it could mess up her shoulder even more."

With that, Fang took off into the sky, Caroline in his arms. When looked over at the guys, they were already wolves and Matt was starting to bound forward while Jake looked at me with a cocked head. I ran to follow them and caught up quickly.

Running trough the woods, Matt was on the trail of... _something._ I wasn't sure what until Matt jumped up, clearing a tree branch obscured by leaves. He came down, he was shifted and not alone. He hit the ground with a solid _thump_ and was wrestling with who I finally recognized as Patch.

"You bastard!" Matt shouted as he punched Patch in the nose, probably breaking it. "Do have any idea what you did!?"

Matt punched him again, making sure Patch's nose was broken. "You might have _killed her!_ She's one of the only people I have left in this world!"

Matt pulled his knife from his ankle and held it to Patch's neck. Matt looked so terrifying that I could almost feel the air in the forest grow colder.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now," Matt spoke, his voice dark and frightening. I'd never seen him like this, even in a fight.

"I never did anything to you," Patch said, giving a sadistic smile. "I didn't hurt you. You shouldn't be mad."

"Don't you get what you did!" Matt screamed, getting even angrier.

"You shouldn't be angry. Just be happy it wasn't you."

"Your sick. You only care about yourself and have no conscience," Matt said, pulling a blade from his ankle and pressed it to Patch's neck. "Go to hell."

Matt cut Patch's throat and got off of him. He wordlessly shifted and bounded out of the forest towards the house. Jake followed in suit, and with one last look back at Patch's lifeless body, I took off into the sky.


End file.
